UBRARY 


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From  a  painting  by  Vnpley 


THE  LIFE  OF 


THOMAS  HUTCHINSON 


ROYAL  GOVERNOR  OF  THE  PROVINCE 
OF  MASSACHUSETTS  BAY 


JAMES    K.  HOSMER 

AUTHOR    OF   "SAMUEL   ADAMS,"    IN   "AMERICAN   STATESMEN"   SERIES 
"  A    LIFE  OF  YOUNG  SIR   HENRY   VANE  "  ETC 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,   MIFFLIN   AND   COMPANY 

1896 


Copyright,  1896, 
By  JAMES  K.  HOSMER. 

All  rights  reserved. 


The  Hiverside  Press,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  TT.  S.  A. 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  H.  0.  Houghton  &  Co. 


Hq35 


TO 

JOHN    FISKE 

LONG  MY  FKIEND 

IN   RECOGNITION   OF   A   SPECIAL  SERVICE 

GENEROUSLY   RENDERED 


Surrexil  clypei  dominus  septemplicis  Ajax ; 
Et  nostrce  valuere  preces.     Si  qumritU  ejus 
Fortnnom  pugnce  non  sum  superatus  in  ilia. 
Opposuit  molem  clypei,  texitque  jacenlem. 

Ovid  :  Metamor.  XIII.  89,  etc. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  L 

YOUNG  MANHOOD  AND   ENVIRONMENT. 

1711-1737. 

Birth  and  home,  1  ;  school  and  college  days,  2  ;  reading  and  associa- 
tions, 3  ;  marriage  and  ancestry,  4  ;  institutions  of  colonial  and  provincial 
Massachusetts,  5,  etc.  ;  Town-Meetings,  7,  etc.  ;  their  educational  value, 
11,  etc.  ;  character  of  eighteenth  century  New  Englanders,  15. 

CHAPTER  II. 

FINANCIAL   SERVICES. 

1737-1749. 

Hutchinson  a  Representative,  16  ;  New  Hampshire  boundary  dispute, 
first  visit  to  England,  17  ;  paper  money  in  New  England,  18,  etc.  ;  dis- 
tress of  the  people,  20  ;  demoralization,  21  ;  Hutchinson's  hard-money 
ideas,  22  ;  Land  Bank,  23,  etc.  ;  wise  action  of  Parliament,  24  ;  capture 
of  Louisburg,  25  ;  Louisburg  indemnity  applied  to  taking  up  the  notes, 
27,  etc.  ;  folly  of  the  Assembly,  31  ;  Hutchinson's  eminence,  32  ;  his 
economic  ideas,  34. 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE   CHIEF   JUSTICESHIP. 

1749-1762. 

Hutchinson  elected  to  the  Council,  36  ;  settles  boundaries  on  the  side 
of  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island,  judicial  positions,  37  ;  Albany  Con- 
gress of  1754,  Franklin's  scheme  for  a  colonial  union,  38  ;  proposed 
colonial  representation  in  Parliament,  39  ;  Braddock's  defeat,  40  ;  de- 
portation of  the  Acadians,  41  ;  accession  of  Governor  Pownal,  42  ; 
Hutchinson  Lieutenant-Governor,  accession  of  Governor  Bernard,  44  ; 
Hutchinson  as  Chief  Justice,  46  ;  effort  of  James  Otis,  47  ;  character 
of  Otis,  48  ;  accession  of  George  III.,  49  ;  results  of  the  fall  of  Quebec, 
50  ;  commercial  prosperity  of  the  Colonies,  51  ;  Writs  of  Assistance,  52  ; 
Hutchinson's  failure  to  appreciate  Otis,  53  ;  epoch-making  speech  of 
Otis,  55,  etc.  ;  "  taxation  ^\'ithout  representation,"  59  ;  judicious  course  of 
Hutchinson,  60  ;  morbid  fitfulness  of  Otis,  62. 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   STAMP-ACT   TUMULTS. 

1762-1765. 

Currency  dispute  of  1762,  63,  etc.  ;  accused  by  Otis  of  being  greedy 
for  place,  66  ;  Hutchinson  defended  from  this  charge,  67  ;  Otis  a  disciple 
of  Montesquieu,  68  ;  Otis  and  Bernard  on  good  terms,  69  ;  Hutchinson 
becomes  unpopular,  70  ;  the  parallel  struggles  in  England  and  America, 
71  ;  enforcement  of  the  Trade  and  Navigation  Laws,  proposed  sending 
of  Hutchinson  to  England  to  remonstrate,  72  ;  why  the  plan  failed,  73  ; 
hardships  of  the  colonial  situation,  74  ;  Otis  emphatically  recognizes 
the  supremacy  of  Parliament,  75  ;  virtual  representation,  76  ;  Bernard 
opposes  trade  restrictions,  position  of  British  statesmen,  77,  etc.  ;  the 
Stamp  Act,  78,  etc.  ;  Hutchinson's  position,  81  ;  publication  of  the  His- 
tory of  Massachusetts  Bay,  85  ;  Hutchinson's  character  as  a  historian, 
86,  etc. ;  his  humanity  and  candor,  88  ;  Stamp-Act  riots,  89  ;  unreason- 
ableness of  the  enmity  toward  Hutchinson,  90  ;  destruction  of  his  house, 
91,  etc.  ;  Josiah  Quincy  describes  Hutchinson's  bearing  and  speech  in  the 
Superior  Court,  95,  etc. 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE    REPEAL   OF   THE   STAMP   ACT. 

1765-1766. 

Remorse  of  Boston  over  the  outrage,  98  ;  course  of  Bernard,  Samuel 
Adams  elected  to  the  Assembly,  99  ;  colonial  representation  in  Parlia- 
ment given  up,  100  ;  Hutchinson's  moderation,  101,  etc.  ;  false  charge 
of  duplicity,  105  ;  end  of  Stamp  Act  Congress,  Timothy  Ruggles,  106  ; 
Rockingham  ministry,  107  ;  debate  over  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act, 
108,  etc.  ;  Mansfield's  position,  110  ;  justice  of  the  American  position, 
111  ;  Hutchinson's  embarrassments,  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  113  ; 
Joseph  Hawley  and  John  Hancock,  114  ;  Hutchinson's  home  life,  115  ; 
Milton  Hill,  116. 

CHAPTER  VI 

THE   END   OF   BERNARD. 

1766-1769. 

Hutchinson  rejected  for  the  Council,  117  ;  gallery  built  in  the  As- 
sembly for  the  public,  118  ;  the  proper  character  of  a  Representative, 
119  ;  enmity  of  Hawley,  120  ;  Hutchinson  laments  the  indefiniteness  of 
politics,  121  ;  progress  of  free  ideas,  122  ;  Hutchinson  indemnified  for 
the  destruction  of  his  house,  123  ;  Townshend  taxes,  124  ;  establishment 
of  Commissioners  of   Customs,  125  ;    ideas  of   Governor  Pownal,   126  ; 


CONTENTS.  vii 

discontent  over  the  Townshend  taxes,  127  ;  Hutcliinson  appointed  to 
settle  the  boundary  on  the  side  of  New  York,  129  ;  Assembly's  letter  to 
Dennys  Deberdt,  130  ;  the  Circular  Letter,  131  ;  Joseph  Warren  attacks 
Hutchinson,  132  ;  Hutchinson  offered  a  place  on  the  Board  of  Customs, 
134  ;  Bernard  orders  the  rescinding  of  the  Circular  Letter,  135  ;  ideas 
as  to  Parliamentary  supremacy,  Hutchinson  forecasts  the  present  colo- 
nial relations  of  the  British  empire,  137  ;  Colonies  chafing  under  restric- 
tions, 138  ;  Hutchinson  remains  in  office  only  from  a  sense  of  duty, 
Boston  summons  the  legislature,  dispensing  with  the  Governor,  139  ; 
success  of  the  scheme  only  partial,  140 ;  advance  of  sedition,  141  ; 
Hutchinson  wishes  to  take  a  middle  course,  142  ;  would  not  change  the 
constitution,  143  ;  Bernard  at  strife  with  the  legislature,  144  ;  cause  of 
the  Colonies  upheld  in  Parliament,  145  ;  good  character  and  accomplish- 
ments of  Bernard,  14G ;  his  "  Letters,"  147  ;  his  departure  from  Amer- 
ica, 148. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

HUTCHINSON   AT   THE    FRONT. 

1769-1770. 

Hutchinson  would  rather  be  Chief  Justice  than  Governor,  149  ;  his 
enjoyment  of  judicial  functions,  decay  of  Otis  and  growing  prominence 
of  Samuel  Adams,  150,  etc.  ;  difficulties  of  the  Governorship,  152  ;  non- 
importation agreements,  153  ;  case  of  John  Mein,  154  ;  parallel  struggle 
in  England,  150  ;  mob  at  Hutchinson's  house,  157  ;  he  doubts  his  power 
to  call  out  the  troops,  158  ;  the  Boston  Massacre,  159  ;  Hutchinson's 
conduct,  160  ;  demand  for  the  removal  of  the  regiments,  161 ;  Hutchin- 
son's courage  and  address,  162  ;  good  behavior  of  the  troops,  163  ; 
Boston  quite  justified,  trial  of  Preston  and  his  men,  165  ;  Hutchinson's 
letters  at  this  time,  166  ;  his  displeasure  at  the  Town-Meeting,  167  ; 
his  scheme  for  a  colonial  union,  168,  etc.  ;  order  for  clothes  to  Peter 
Leitch,  170. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

ACCESSION   TO   THE   GOVERNORSHIP. 

1770-1771. 

Controversy  as  to  the  validity  of  royal  instructions,  172  ;  the  legisla- 
ture removed  to  Cambridge,  173  ;  prominence  of  Samuel  Adams  and 
Bowdoin,  174  ;  John  Adams  in  the  legislature,  175  ;  Hancock's  character 
and  influence,  Samuel  Adams  to  the  Governor,  176,  etc.  ;  Hutchinson's 
reply,  180  ;  Shirley  on  the  two  Adamses,  182  ;  Castle  William  given  up 
to  the  regulars,  183  ;  Committee  of  Correspondence,  184  ;  John  Adams's 
defense  of  the  soldiers,  185  ;  Samuel  Adams's  conduct  less  praiseworthy, 
forlorn  position  of  Hutchinson,  186  ;  he  regrets  the  failure  to  repeal 
the  duty  on  tea,  187  ;  accepts  the  Governorship  with  reluctance,   188  ; 


viii  CONTENTS. 

encouragement  to  troubles  in  America  from  English  sympathy,  190, 
etc.  ;  mutual  hatred  of  Hutchinson  and  Samuel  Adams,  191,  etc.  ;  diffi- 
culties of  the  Governor's  situation,  193,  etc.  ;  puts  backbone  into  the 
judges  at  the  trial  of  the  soldiers,  196  ;  wishes  repeal  of  the  tea-duty, 
197  ;  anxiety  about  having  his  letters  made  public,  198  ;  desires  no 
change  in  the  constitution,  199  ;  his  family  and  private  life,  200  ;  young 
Lord  Fitzwilliam's  proposal  for  "  Peggy,"  201  ;  Hutchinson's  reply,  202  ; 
commissioned  Governor,  203  ;  well  received  by  many,  204  ;  Boston  as 
usual  gives  trouble,  206  ;  Towu-Meetings  disapproved,  207. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

ROYAL  INSTRUCTIONS. 

1771-1772. 

The  Assembly  becomes  "  his  Majesty's  Commons,"  208  ;  inquiry  as  to 
whence  the  Governor's  salary  comes,  209  ;  low  estate  of  the  Whigs,  210  ; 
their  cause  sustained  by  Samuel  Adams  alone,  211  ;  right  to  remove  the 
legislature  from  Boston  generally  conceded,  212  ;  relations  of  Samuel 
Adams  and  Hancock,  213  ;  rally  of  the  Whigs,  215  ;  Hutchinson  char- 
acterizes Samuel  Adams,  states  the  position  of  the  Whigs  as  to  royal 
instructions,  216,  etc.  ;  Samuel  Adams  denounces  Hutchinson,  217 ; 
scheme  of  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  taken  up  again,  Samuel 
Adams  to  Arthur  Lee,  219  ;  premonitions  of  the  controversy  as  to 
Parliamentary  authority,  220  ;  the  Tories  cheerful,  222  ;  the  Whigs  at 
discord,  Otis  insane,  general  prosperity,  224  ;  Samuel  Adams  to  the 
Governor  on  royal  instructions,  225,  etc.  ;  defeat  of  Hutchinson  in  the 
matter  of  removing  the  legislature,  227. 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE  COMMITTEE  OF  CQRRESPONDENCE. 

1772-1773. 

The  Governor's  salary  to  come  from  the  King,  228  ;  Hutchinson  fore- 
sees a  separation,  229  ;  appointed  anew  to  settle  the  boundary  on  the 
side  of  New  York,  230  ;  favors  the  deportation  of  offenders  for  trial  and 
punishment,  232  ;  his  tolerant  spirit,  233,  etc.  ;  his  liking  for  the  Earl 
of  Dartmouth,  new  colonial  secretary,  234  ;  the  Committee  of  Corre- 
spondence at  work,  235  ;  its  mighty  effect,  236,  etc.  ;  instructions  of 
Concord  to  Captain  James  Barrett,  Representative,  239,  etc.  ;  Hutchinson 
aroused,  242  ;  resolves  to  state  the  case  for  Parliamentary  authority, 
Samuel  Adams  justifies  the  Town-Meeting,  244,  etc.  ;  the  case  summed 
up  between  Hutchinson  and  Samuel  Adams,  246,  etc. 


CONTENTS.  IX 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  GREAT  CONTKOVERSY. 
1773. 

Hutchinson  resolves  to  explain  to  Massachusetts  its  constitution,  249 
his  despondency,  251  ;  John   Adams's  account  of  Hutchinson's  distress 
253,  etc.  ;  testimonies  as  to  the  ability  shown  in  the  controversy,  253 
how  the  House  replied,  254  ;  prominence  in  the  dispute  of  John  Adams, 
255  ;  importance  of  the  struggle,  256  ;  its  character  summarized,  258 
unfounded  claims  of  the  Whigs,  259  ;  short-sightedness  of  Hutchinson 
and   others,   260  ;  his  scheme   practically  that  adopted  for  the  British 
empire   of   to-day,    261  ;  debt   of   the  world   to  the  Whig  combatants, 
change  of  base  from  historical  to  natural  rights,  262  ;  Boston  the  cause 
of  all,  263 ;  Benjamin  Church  prophesies  a  Congress,  264  ;  boundary  on 
the  side  of  New  York  satisfactorily  settled,  265,  etc. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  AFFAIR    OF    THE   LETTERS. 

1773. 

Report  spread  about  infamous  letters  written  by  Hutchinson,  268  ; 
the  letters  printed  and  spread  abroad,  petition  for  the  removal  of 
Hutchinson  and  Oliver,  269  ;  difference  of  view  as  to  the  character  of 
the  letters,  270  ;  consistency  of  the  letters  with  the  Governor's  daily 
declarations,  271  ;  why  he  was  anxious  about  having  his  letters  reported, 
272  ;  how  the  letters  to  Whately  w^ere  obtained,  Franklin's  agency  in 
the  matter,  273  ;  crafty  management  on  his  part  a  possibility,  274  ;  text 
of  Franklin's  accompanying  letter,  275  ;  has  it  been  garbled  ?  276  ; 
Hutchinson  tries  to  vindicate  himself,  277  ;  the  letters  printed,  278  ; 
character  of  Andrew  Oliver's  letters,  279  ;  of  Paxton's,  probable  explana- 
tion of  the  course  of  the  Whig  leaders,  280  ;  Hutchinson's  explanations, 
281  ;  his  judgment  of  the  affair,  283,  etc.  ;  the  American  people  in  a 
state  of  nature,  286  ;  dispute  as  to  the  salaries  of  the  judges,  287  ;  letter 
to  his  tailor,  287  ;  accused  of  favoring  his  family,  288  ;  his  judgment  of 
Samuel  Adams,  290,  etc.  ;  he  takes  a  hopeful  view,  292. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Hutchinson's  last  days  in  America. 

1773-1774. 

New  trouble  from  Boston,  294,  etc.  ;  the  unrepealed  tax  on  tea,  296  ; 
the  consignees,  the  popular  leaders,  297  ;  preliminary  tumults,  298  ; 
Hutchinson   anxious,   299,   etc.  ;  he   recommends   the   disfranchising   of 


X  CONTENTS. 

Boston,  301  ;  his  account  of  the  Tea-Party,  302,  etc.  ;  denounces  Boston, 
304  ;  defends  his  own  course,  305  ;  spirit  and  right-mindedness  of  Bos- 
ton, 306  ;  unpleasant  incidents,  limitations  of  Hutchinson,  307  ;  his  good 
purpose  and  service,  308  ;  dispute  as  to  the  judges'  salaries,  310  ;  at- 
tempt to  impeach  Chief  Justice  Peter  Oliver,  the  Thirteen  Colonies 
sustain  Boston,  311  ;  Parliamentary  dispute,  312  ;  death  and  character 
of  Andrew  Oliver,  313 ;  Hutchinson  superseded  by  Gage,  penalties 
inflicted  on  Boston,  314  ;  Hutchinson's  farewell  to  Milton  Hill,  315  ; 
only  temporarily  superseded,  316  ;  at  Castle  William,  317,  etc.  ;  last 
sight  of  Boston,  318  ;  his  departure,  319  ;  the  Tories,  320,  etc.  ;  no 
unnecessary  harshness  shown  them,  323  ;  what  Hutchinson  suffered,  324. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE   YEARS   OF   EXILK. 
1774r-1780. 

Arrival  in  England  and  interview  with  the  King,  325,  etc.  ;  describes 
Samuel  Adams,  327  ;  New  England  ministers  discussed,  328  ;  disap- 
proves of  government  measures,  328  ;  well  received  by  all,  defends  the 
contents  of  the  Letter  Books,  330  ;  his  "  Vindication,"  331,  etc.  ;  refers 
to  the  Letters,  332  ;  scheme  he  thiidis  necessary  for  the  continuance  of 
the  empire,  333  ;  kindness  shown  him  by  all,  334  ;  scene  at  court,  335, 
etc.  ;  at  Lord  Hillsboro's,  336  ;  sees  Robertson  and  Gibbon,  337  ;  re- 
ceives the  degree  of  D.  C.  L.  at  Oxford,  338,  etc.  ;  reviews  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  339  ;  in  the  House  of  Lords,  340  ;  dislikes  London 
dissipations  and  levities,  341  ;  his  yearning  for  New  England,  342  ; 
homesick  letter,  343,  etc.  ;  likes  Bristol  as  resembling  Boston,  345  ; 
heavy  afflictions,  346  ;  Hutchinson's  death,  347,  etc.  ;  calamities  private 
and  public,  348,  349. 

Appendix  A.  Inventory  of  property  destroyed  August  26,  1765,  351. 

Appendix  B.  Controversy  between  the  Governor  and  the  Legisla- 
ture, 1773. 

Appendix  C.  The  letters  and  the  resolves  concerning  them,  429. 

Appendix  D.  Story  of  Hutchinson's  Massachusetts  estate,  442. 

Index,  445. 


NOTE   ON  THE  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

The  portrait  of  Governor  Hutchinson  used  as  a  frontispiece 
is  from  a  painting  by  John  Singleton  Copley,  now  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society. 

The  Hutchinson  House,  facing  page  94,  teas  situated  on 
Garden  Court  Street,  Boston,  and  destroyed  by  the  mob  on  the 
night  of  August  26,  1765.  The  reproduction  is  from  The 
American  Magazine  of  Useful  and  Entertaining  Knowledge, 
February,  1836. 

The  original  letter  from  Governor  Hutchinson  to  Samuel 
Swift,  a  facsimile  of  which  faces  page  304,  ^^  "^  ^'^^  Massa- 
chusetts Archives,  Boston  State  House. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Lessing  once  projected  a  series  of  papers  to  which 
he  purposed  to  give  the  name  Retiunrjen  (Rescues),  his 
design  being  to  vindicate  from  obloquy  great  men  of 
the  past  to  whom  harsh  measure  had  been  dealt  out. 
It  was  a  generous  thought  of  a  most  just  and  coura- 
geous mind,  and  deserves  imitation  in  every  age.  The 
history  of  America,  like  that  of  every  land,  has  its 
hetes  no  ires,  characters  remembered,  for  the  most  j)art, 
only  to  be  execrated,  some  of  whom  certainly  do  not 
deserve  their  bad  fame  ;  and  of  these  there  is  no  more 
pathetic  example  than  Thomas  Hutchinson,  the  last 
royal  Governor  of  Massachusetts  Bay  before  the  futile 
eifort  of  England  to  divide  mth  the  sword  the  perplex- 
ities of  the  on-coming  Revolution. 

Says  Lecky  of  the  American  Loyahsts  :  "  They 
comprised  some  of  the  best  and  ablest  men  America 
has  ever  produced,  and  they  were  contending  for  an 
idea  which  was  at  least  as  worthy  as  that  for  which 
Washington  fought.  The  maintenance  of  one  free, 
industrial,  and  pacific  empire,  comprising  the  Avhole 
English-speaking  race,  may  have  been  a  dream,  but  it 
was  at  least  a  noble  one."  ^  Such  a  declaration  sounds 
in  American  ears  very  British  and  extravagant,  but  it 
is  certainly  right  that  the  characters  and  principles  of 
the  Tories  should  be  restudied.     The  number  of  those 

'  Hist,  of  XVIIIth  Century,  vol.  iii.,  p.  454. 


XIV  INTRODUCTION. 

who  took  the  Tory  side  in  the  American  Revokition 
and  were  driven  into  exile,  it  has  been  claimed,  was 
relatively  to  the  fidl  as  large  as  the  number  of  Hugue- 
nots expatriated  from  France  by  the  Revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes.  There  were  no  better  people  in  the 
country  for  intelligence  and  general  worth,  —  none  who, 
up  to  the  time  of  their  mistaken  and  unfortunate  choice 
of  sides  in  that  last  crisis,  had  served  their  country  bet- 
ter. That  one  error  has  canceled  in  the  minds  of  their 
countrymen  all  their  excellence.  Where  their  meed 
has  not  been  utter  oblivion,  it  has  been  ignominy. 
Scarcely  more  than  one  Tory  can  be  mentioned  who 
has  been  made  the  subject  of  a  respectful  biography, 
Benjamin  Thompson  Count  Rumford,  whose  scientific 
note  and  romantic  career  it  was  mipossible  to  overlook. 
Ought  this  neglect  and  misappreciation  to  continue 
always  ? 

Among  Tories  there  was  no  one  so  illustrious  through 
his  position  and  abilities  as  Thomas  Hutchinson.  His 
historical  writings  give  him  a  respectable  place  in  the 
literature  of  his  century.  They  are  in  fact  declared  to 
have  "  the  highest  value,  proving  his  mind  to  have  been 
a  judicial  one,  full  of  «andor,  moderation  and  a  desire 
for  truth."  ^  To  his  ability  as  a  judge  the  following 
testimony  may  be  cited  from  one  of  his  successors  in 
the  governorship  of  Massachusetts,  himself  an  eminent 
jurist,  who  says,  speaking  of  Hutchinson  as  Chief 
Justice :  — 

"  Few  who  sat  upon  the  bench  in  the  last  century 
were  more  deserving  of  commendation  than  Judge 
Hutchinson.     His  character  in  this  capacity  was  irre- 

1  Hon.  Charles  Deane  :  Proceedings  of  Mass,  Hist.  Soc,  vol.  iii. 


INTRODUCTION.  xv 

proacliable.  His  learning-,  even  in  the  science  of  the 
law,  was  highly  respectable,  and,  when  we  consider  Lis 
early  education,  was  indeed  remarkable.  He  possessed 
great  clearness  of  thought,  and  excelled  in  that  most 
difficult  property  of  a  good  judge,  a  clear  and  intelli- 
g'ible  statement  of  the  case  upon  which  he  was  to  pass. 
It  is  a  traditionary  anecdote  that,  after  listening  to  the 
charges  given  by  his  associates,  juries  were  in  the  habit 
of  remarking  when  Hutchinson  rose  to  address  them, 
'Now  we  shall  have  somethinsf  which  we  can  under- 
stand.'  ...  In  his  official  character  he  had  great  read- 
iness and  capacity  for  business,  and  was  faithful  and 
laborious  in  the  performance  of  his  duties.  He  was  a 
fluent  and  graceful  speaker,  a  vigorous  writer,  and  a 
respectable  scholar.  .  .  .  Had  he  lived  at  almost  any 
other  period  of  our  history,  with  the  same  industry  and 
application  of  his  powers,  his  fame  would  have  survived 
as  that  of  an  useful,  honorable,  and  honored  man." 

As  a  financier  John  Adams  celebrated  Hutchinson 
thus  thirty  years  after  his  death  :  — 

"  If  I  was  the  Avitch  of  Endor,  I  woidd  wake  the 
ghost  of  Hutchinson,  and  give  him  absolute  power  over 
the  currency  of  the  United  States  and  every  part  of  it, 
provided  always  that  he  should  meddle  with  nothing 
but  the  currency.  As  little  as  I  revere  his  memory,  I 
will  acknowledge  that  he  understood  the  subject  of  coin 
and  commerce  better  than  any  man  I  ever  knew  in  this 
country."^ 

In  the  time  before  John  Adams  became  Hutchinson's 

^  Emory  Washburn  :  Judicial  Hist,  of  Massachusetts,  pp.  304,  305. 

2  Given  in  Curwen's  Journal,  p.  456,  from  "  an  unpublished  letter  to 
Joseph  Ward,"  October  24,  1809.  The  letter,  though  not  included  in 
John  Adams's  Works,  has  indisputable  internal  marks  of  genuineness. 


xvi  INTRODUCTION. 

bitter  enemy  he  wrote  thus  of  the  general  estimation 
in  which  Hutchinson  was  hekl :  "  Has  not  his  merit 
been  sounded  very  high  by  liis  countrymen  for  twenty 
years?  Have  not  his  countrymen  loved,  admu-ed,  re- 
vered, rewarded,  nay,  almost  adored  him?  Have  not 
ninety-nine  in  a  hundred  of  them  really  thought  him 
the  greatest  and  best  man  in  America?  Has  not  the 
perpetual  language  of  many  members  of  both  Houses 
and  of  a  majority  of  his  brother-counselors  been,  that 
Mr.  Hutchinson  is  a  great  man,  a  pious,  a  wise,  a 
learned,  a  good  man,  an  eminent  saint,  a  philosopher, 
etc.  ?  Nay,  have  not  the  affection  and  admiration  of 
his  countrymen  arisen  so  high  as  often  to  style  him  the 
greatest  and  best  man  in  the  world ;  that  they  never 
saw,  nor  heard,  nor  read  of  such  a  man,  —  a  sort  of 
apotheosis  like  that  of  Alexander  and  that  of  Caesar, 
while  they  lived  ?  "  ^  Hutchinson  in  fact  pervaded  the 
life  of  his  tune  in  a  remarkable  way,  standing  out  as  a 
leading  figure  in  the  most  various  spheres.  The  chap- 
ters which  follow  will,  it  is  believed,  show  that  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  from  before  the  fall  of  Louisburg 
up  to  the  year  1774,  when  his  exile  began,  there  was 
no  more  eminent  personage  in  the  western  hemisj)here 
than  he.  How  it  has  come  about  that  a  fame  once  so 
brilliant  has  passed  to  such  an  extent  from  the  memo- 
ries of  men,  the  reader  will  come  to  know,  and  find 
reason,  it  is  hoped,  for  kinder  thoughts  of  the  dis- 
credited chief  magistrate  of  those  stormy  times. 

The  position  of  the  writer  of  this  book  needs  to  be 
distinctly  defined   at  the  outset.     He  beheves  that  in 

1  John  Adams'  Diary,  March  17,  1766. 


INTRODUCTION.  xvu 

any  Anglo-Saxon  community  Abraham  Lincoln's  "  plain 
people  "  can  be  trusted  to  govern  themselves,  and  that 
power  to  do  so  should  belong  to  the  masses,  each  man 
havinof  his  vote.  "  Some  men  are  fools  all  the  time ; 
all  men  are  fools  sometimes ;  but  all  men  are  not  fools 
all  the  time."  Our  great  Abraham  leaves  us  but  a 
narrow  margin ;  it  will  suffice,  however,  in  any  English- 
speaking  land,  for  the  basis  of  a  stable  polity.  Un- 
doubtedly such  a  democracy  is  often  unlovely  in  its 
manifestations.  Emerson  quoted  approvmgly  Fisher 
Ames,  as  saying  that  "  a  monarchy  is  a  merchantman 
which  sails  well,  but  will  sometimes  strike  on  a  rock 
and  go  to  the  bottom ;  whilst  a  republic  is  a  raft 
which  would  never  sink,  but  then  your  feet  are  always 
in  the  water."  ^  The  discomforts  of  the  raft  are  indeed 
great,  and  the  feet  of  those  who  are  embarked  upon 
it  have  never  been  wetter  probably  than  at  the  pres- 
ent hour.  Many  who  until  now  have  floated  upon 
the  raft  confidently  begin  to  feel  that  it  must  be  for- 
saken. When  such  a  leader  as  Herbert  Spencer  de- 
clares that  his  faith  in  democracy  is  gone  and  that  we 
are  on  the  high  road  to  military  despotism,  believing 
apparently  that  it  will  be  a  better  consimimation  than 
a  continuance  of  present  conditions,  ordinary  men  can- 
not be  blamed  for  feeling  some  doubt  about  institutions 
heretofore  cherished  and  implicitly  trusted.  We  are, 
however,  on  the  raft  for  good  and  all.  We  must  make 
the  best  of  it ;  whatever  defections  may  occur,  it  is 
unmanly  for  Americans  to  be  faint-hearted.  When  all 
is  said  that  can  be  said,  democracy  exhibits  no  disad- 

^  Essays,  2d  series  ;  "Politics." 


xvill  INTRODUCTION. 

vantages  wliicli  cannot  at  once  be  paralleled  or  surpassed 
in  the  experiences  of  aristocracies  and  monarchies.  In 
an  Anglo-Saxon  community,  inheriting  as  it  does  the 
traditions  of  two  thousand  years  of  self-government, 
the  people  can  and  ought  to  take  care  of  themselves ; 
and  it  is  culpable  faint-heartedness  to  believe  that  the 
elements  other  than  Anglo-Saxon  which  have  flowed  in 
upon  us  have  so  far  canceled  or  emasculated  Anglo- 
Saxon  strength  that  we  need  to  be  taken  in  hand  by 
a  master. 

As  to  the  "  Anglo-Saxon  Schism,"  as  Gold  win  Smith 
calls  it, — the  splitting  apart  of  the  race  which  took  place 
when  the  Thirteen  Colonies  broke  away,  —  a  schism 
which  some  lament  as  a  calamity,  what  is  the  wise  view 
to  take  at  the  present  moment?  The  writer  of  this 
book  believes  that  there  should  be  a  cordial  fraterniza- 
tion of  the  whole  great  English-speaking  world,  to-day 
130,000,000  strong,  and  really  in  all  substantial  re- 
spects one  and  the  same  as  regards  tongue,  literature, 
institutions,  and  social  usages,  whether  settled  in  South 
Africa,  in  Australasia,  in  the  primitive  home,  or  in  the 
United  States.^  Old  prejudices  should  be  cast  aside; 
the  English-speaking  states,  recognizing  their  kinship, 
should  knit  bonds  together  around  the  world,  forming 
a  kingly  brotherhood  inspired  for  beneficence,  to  which 
supreme  dominion  in  the  earth  would  be  sure  to  fall. 
According  to  Gladstone's  couplet :  — 

"  When  love  unites  wide  space  divides  in  vain, 
And  hands  may  clasp  across  the  flowing  main." 

^  For  a  detailed  presentation  of  this  idea,  see  the  writer's  Short  History 
jqf  Anglo-Saxon  Freedom. 


INTRODUCTION.  xix 

If  love  would  but  once  unite,  the  seas  could  not  sever. 
Earth  has  never  beheld  a  commingling  of  men  so  im- 
pressive, so  likely  to  be  fraught  with  noble  advantages 
through  ages  to  come,  as  Avould  be  the  coming  together 
of  English-speaking  men  into  one  cordial  bond. 

Yet,  with  all  that,  it  was  not  a  calamity  Avhen  the 
men  of  '76  broke  the  empire  apart.  We  have  made  no 
mistake  in  doing  them  honor ;  It  was  well  that  the 
schism  came.  To  use  a  figure  no  homelier,  perhaps, 
than  that  of  the  raft  which  Emerson  takes  so  approv- 
ingly from  Fisher  Ames,  —  a  political  construction 
should  be  after  the  model  of  the  hob-sled  of  the  lumber- 
man of  the  Northwest.  If  the  vehicle  were  in  one 
frame,  the  load  pressing  from  above  and  the  inequalities 
of  the  road  beneath  would  rack  it  to  pieces  at  once ;  let 
there  be  runners,  however,  before  and  behind,  each  pair 
distinct  and  independent,  yet  linked  by  appliances  always 
flexible  but  never  parting,  all  immediately  goes  well. 
Among  the  stumps  and  gullies  of  the  rough  track,  the 
contrivance,  readily  yielding  yet  never  disconnected,  eas- 
ily bears  on  its  weight  of  timber ;  the  shortest  corners 
are  turned,  the  ugliest  drifts  surmounted.  That  Anglo- 
Saxondom  was  sundered  is  not  a  subject  for  regret.  In 
one  frame,  so  to  speak,  it  could  not  do  its  work.  That 
its  burden  might  be  well  and  safely  borne  the  division 
into  two  was  salutary,  indeed  inevitable.  What  is  to 
be  regretted  is  that  the  severance  involved  bloodshed, 
and  produced  a  hatred  which  rankles  yet.  The  split 
should  not  be  utter.  While  the  two  frames  are  separate 
an  indestructible  link  should  connect  them,  allowing  to 
each  free  play  for  itself  while  making  the  two  after  all 
one. 


XX  INTRODUCTION. 

Such  ideas  as  the  foreo^oino^  were  not  those  of  Thomas 
Hutchinson.  First,  he  was  no  democrat.  His  great 
adversary,  Samuel  Adams,  did  him  no  injustice  in  de- 
claring :  "  It  has  been  his  principle  from  a  boy  that 
mankind  are  to  be  governed  by  the  discerning  few,  and 
it  has  been  ever  since  his  ambition  to  be  the  hero  of  the 
few."  Matthew  Arnold's  doctrine  of  the  "  remnant," 
in  fact,  that  in  every  society  a  select  company  of 
choice  natures  must  exist  and  exercise  leadership  in 
order  to  a  proper  consummation,  would  have  had  the 
hearty  approval  of  the  Massachusetts  worthy.  Such  a 
doctrine  had  the  approval  of  John  Winthrop,^  as  it  has 
at  the  present  day,  even  in  democracies,  the  approval  of 
numbers  perhaps  constantly  increasing.  If  Hutchinson 
felt  that  in  these  guiding  few  a  foremost  place  in  his 
own  time  and  land  belonged  to  him,  it  can  properly  be 
said  that  he  was  not  presumptuous,  for  his  career  quite 
justified  in  him  a  good  estimate  of  his  own  wisdom. 
Government  by  the  people  was  no  principle  of  his. 
King,  Lords,  and  Commons,  the  three  ancient  pillars 
of  the  British  polity  upon  which  should  be  apportioned 
and  balanced  with  aU  care  the  weight  of  authority, 
were  institutions  good  enough  for  him.  They  had  sat- 
isfied Pym  and  Hampden  before  him ;  so,  too,  the  f ram- 
ers  of  the  Bill  of  Rio^hts  in  the  time  of  William  and 
Mary ;  so,  too,  in  his  own  time,  Mansfield,  and  even 
Chatham  and  Burke,  liberal  though  they  were.  No  one 
dreamed  then  of  popular  sovereignty  but  the  wild  soei- 

^  "  The  best  part  of  a  community  is  always  the  least,  and  of  tliat  best 
part  the  wiser  part  is  always  the  lesser."  Winthrop^s  Journal,  vol.  ii., 
p.  428,  ed. 1853. 


INTRODUCTION.  xxi 

ety  of  the  Friends  of  the  People,  supporters  of  the  dis- 
reputable John  Wilkes  ;  and,  in  the  colonies,  the  tumul- 
tuous crowd  who  presumed  to  decide  in  town-meeting 
what  had  heretofore  been  left  to  the  judgment  of  those 
high  in  j)lace.  If  Hutchinson  was  no  democrat,  so, 
moreover,  was  he  no  favorer  of  a  severance  of  the  em- 
pire. At  some  distant  day,  indeed,  a  time  might  come 
when  parting  in  friendship  might  be  well.  At  present, 
however,  it  was  not  expedient  to  think  of  it.  Indepen- 
dence woidd  bring  calamity,  not  benefit,  to  both  mother- 
land and  colonies.  In  his  view  one  pohtical  frame 
would  answer  well  for  the  whole  Anglo-Saxon  world ; 
and  in  that  frame  harmony  required  that  the  British 
Parliament  should  be  supreme.  That  supremacy,  once 
recognized,  he  woidd  have  kept  well  in  the  background 
and  as  far  out  of  sight  as  possible,  while  perfect  free- 
dom was  accorded  to  the  dependency  in  all  local  affairs. 
What  he  desu-ed,  in  fact,  was  the  relation  existing  to- 
day between  mother-land  and  colony,  the  voice  of  the 
home  legislatiu'e  never  heard  save  in  imperial  concerns. 
The  msdom  of  division  with  a  brotherly  link  to  connect 
the  distinctly  separated  parts,  after  the  fashion  of  the 
lumberman's  sled,  was  not  apparent  to  him ;  but  then, 
in  the  time  of  his  activity,  separation  was  contemplated 
by  everybody,  excepting  Samuel  Adams,  with  feelings 
of  dread. 

Hutchinson's  ideas  were  not  those  which  have  come 
to  prevail  upon  the  soil  which  he  ardently  loved  and 
from  which  he  was  ruthlessly  driven ;  but  his  ideas  he 
held  with  the  utmost  honesty  and  fought  for  with  the 
stoutest  courage.     In  his  beliefs  and  in  his  champion- 


xxii  INTRODUCTION. 

ship  he  had  in  his  day  excellent  company ;  many,  possi- 
bly an  increasing  number,  in  our  own  day  will  say 
he  was  nearer  right  than  his  enemies.  At  any  rate  the 
struggle  he  waged  was  so  manful,  his  general  sj)irit 
through  it  was  so  humane,  the  good  he  wrought  for 
his  country  was  really  so  substantial,  that  his  fame 
well  deserves  a  r^escue  after  the  long  obloquy.  To  at- 
tempt this  Rettung  has  been  a  grateful  task. 

There  is  no  lack  of  materials  for  the  biography  of 
Hutchinson.  The  patriots  of  his  day  have  been,  as 
they  deserved  to  be,  profusely  commemorated.  The 
deeds  of  James  Otis,  Joseph  Warren,  Josiali  Quincy, 
John  and  Samuel  Adams  have  found  recorders ;  and  in 
the  case  of  each  it  has  been  quite  impossible  to  tell  the 
story  without  making,  up  to  the  Revolutionary  out- 
break, nearly  as  prominent  as  the  principal  figure,  the 
form  of  the  opposing  royal  chief  magistrate  omnipresent 
in  all  the  battle.  Hutchinson  himself,  while  an  exile  in 
England  in  his  old  age,  prepared  an  autobiographical 
sketch,  recounting  his  career  from  childhood  to  the 
troubles  of  the  Revolution.  At  that  point  the  story  is 
taken  up  in  the  third  volume  of  his  "  History  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,"  which  also  was  written  during  his  exile, 
and  is,  of  necessity,  simply  his  personal  record,  as  he 
wrestled  with  the  men  who  at  last  bore  him  down.  The 
autobiographical  sketch,  with  large  extracts  from  the 
diary  and  letters  which  he  wrote  during  his  exile,  have 
been  published  in  two  volumes  ^  under  the  care  of  his 
great-grandson,  Peter  Orlando  Hutchinson.  The  third 
volume  of  the  history,  a  most  precious  Revolutionary 

^  Diary  and  Letters  of  Thomas  Hutchinson  ;  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 


INTRODUCTION.  xxiii 

document,  was  not  printed  till  1828,  nearly  fifty  years 
after  the  death  of  the  v.riter. 

More  interesting',  however,  as  a  source  of  information 
concerning-  Hutchinson  is  the  large  mass  of  manuscript 
material  left  behind  him  in  his  hasty  flight  in  1774,  and 
now  preserved  in  the  Massachusetts  archives  in  the 
office  of  the  Secretary  of  State.  He  was  the  most  pains- 
taking and  methodical  of  men,  in  the  case  of  every  im- 
portant letter  or  document,  and  often  of  quite  unimpor- 
tant notes,  making  a  draft  to  be  carefully  preserved  in 
his  letter  books.  These  papers,  sometimes  copies  of  the 
perfected  document,  sometimes  apparently  the  rough 
outline  from  which  the  production  was  afterwards  fin- 
ished, are  contained  in  three  thick  folio  volumes,  marked 
25,  26,  and  27,  and  labeled  "  The  Hutchinson  Corre- 
spondence." The  collection  comprises  some  fifteen  hun- 
dred letters,  the  greater  part  written  by  him,  though  a 
few  are  addressed  to  him.  Occasionally  one  finds  the 
work  of  an  amanuensis,  usually  one  of  his  own  children, 
no  doubt ;  but  for  the  most  part  it  is  the  laborious  hand 
of  the  old  Governor  which  fixes  the  fine  upon  the  page. 
Still  a  fourth  volume,  labeled  "  Hutchinson's  Manu- 
script History,"  contains  the  first  part  of  vol.  ii.  of  the 
history,  and  a  few  other  matters.  When  Hutchinson 
fled  from  his  home  on  Milton  Hill,  June  1,  1774,  he 
left  his  house  in  charge  of  his  gardener,  it  is  said.^     The 

^  Collections  of  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  vol.  x.,  pp.  117-133  ; 
"  Report  on  the  Hutchinson  Papers,"  by  George  E.  Ellis,  Emory  Wash- 
burn, and  Joel  Parker,  Feb.  13,  1S68.  See  also  Justin  Winsor's  careful 
account  of  the  vicissitudes  of  the  Hutchinson  papers  ;  Narrative  and 
Critical  History  of  America,  vol.  viii.,  pp.  431,  etc.  ;  Appendix,  "Manu- 
script Sources  of  the  History  of  the  United  States,"  pp.  19,  etc. 


XXIV  INTRODUCTION. 

authorities  under  the  new  order  of  thing^s  did  not 
meddle  with  it  until  after  April  19,  1775.  Meantime 
the  house  had  been  entered  and  much  carried  away. 
April  29,  General  Thomas,  the  Provincial  officer  in 
command  on  that  side  of  Boston,  was  ordered  to  take 
possession  of  the  Hutchinson  papers,  when  the  letter- 
books  were  found  in  the  keeping  of  Captain  Hugh 
McLean  or  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  John  Boies.  A 
tradition  says  that  they  had  been  hidden  in  the  sacks 
of  beds.  Fifty  pounds  were  paid  for  them  by  the 
State,  in  the  expectation  that  evidence  from  them  would 
implicate  the  Governor  in  plots  against  the  people. 
When  recovered,  committees  to  examine  them  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  Provincial  Congress,  selections  being 
afterward  published  in  Massachusetts  papers,  and  also  in 
the  London  Liberal  organ,  Almon's  "  Remembrancer." 

At  the  present  day,  these  four  old  volumes  form  cer- 
tainly one  of  the  most  interesting  relics  extant  of  our 
Revolutionary  days.  As  the  student  pores  over  them, 
the  doughty  soul  of  the  Tory  Governor  ahnost  seems 
to  be  yet  close  at  hand ;  the  red  pencil  marks  of  his 
enemies,  the  committees  of  the  Provincial  Congress, 
noting  with  microscopic  eye  every  phrase  which  might 
tend  to  incriminate  him,  have  a  heat  and  truculence 
which  the  lajDse  of  a  century  and  a  quarter  has  not  de- 
stroyed :  there  are  pages  to  which  still  adhere  mud  and 
the  stains  of  rain,  got  while  they  lay  in  the  street  into 
which  they  had  been  flung  by  the  mob  at  the  time  of 
the  Stamp  Act. 

While  no  careful  life  of  Hutchinson  has  ever  been 
written,  his  career  has  several  times  been  sketched  in 


INTRODUCTION.  xxv 

brief  articles.  Noteworthy  among  these  are  the  ac- 
counts of  his  contemporary,  John  Eliot,  in  his  "  New 
England  Biographical  Dictionary  ;  "  and,  in  later  times, 
of  W.  H.  Whitmore,'  W.  F.  Poole,^  and  especially  of 
the  late  lamented  president  of  the  Massachusetts  His- 
torical Society,  Dr.  George  E.  Ellis.^  These  later  au- 
thorities, basing  their  conclusions  largely  upon  the  reve- 
lations of  the  "  Diary  and  Letters,"  have  portrayed 
Hutchinson  with  much  fairness,  and  helped  essentially 
toward  a  reconstruction  of  the  popular  verdict  concern- 
ing him.  His  figure  has,  however,  sufficient  significance 
to  justify  a  more  elaborate  picture. 

The  present  writer  has  studied  with  care  everything 
important,  both  in  print  and  in  manuscript,  which 
Hutchinson  has  left.  As  authorities,  the  manuscripts 
have  an  especial  value,  and  have  been  much  depended 
upon.^  By  the  courtesy  of  the  state  officials,  the  collec- 
tions in  the  Massachusetts  archives  were  freely  thrown 
open.  The  important  correspondence  of  Hutchinson 
with  Colonel  Israel  Williams,  preserved  in  the  library 
of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  was  exam- 
ined through  the  kind  permission  of  Dr.  S.  A.  Green. 
The  character  of  the  journal  kept  by  Hutchinson  in 
England  during  the  sad  and  uneventful  years  of  his 
exile  is  abundantly  illustrated  in  the  volumes  of 
his   great-grandson.      Certainly  nothing   is    contained 

1  N.  Y.  Nation,  xxxviii,  298. 

2  Chicago  Dial,  v.  53  ;  vii.  102. 

^Atlantic  Monthly,  liii.  662  ;  Iviii.  561.  A  fair  English  accouut  is  given 
in  the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 

^  Referred  to  in  the  footnotes  as  Massachusetts  Archives  Historical,  or 
M.  A.  Hist.,  XXV.,  xxvi.,  and  xxvii. 


xxvi  INTRODUCTION. 

there   not  in  accord  with  the  records  of  his  vigorous 
time. 

Besides  consulting  what  the  Governor  has  left,  the 
effort  has  heen  made  to  o-ather  from  other  sources  what 
knowledge  seemed  to  bear  upon  the  topic.  In  partic- 
ular, the  writer's  acquaintance  with  the  literature  re- 
lating to  Samuel  Adams  has  been  of  value  to  him.  It 
was  while  writing;  the  life  ^  of  that  sturdiest  and  trustiest 
of  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  indeed,  that  the  worth  and 
greatness  of  his  opponent  became  plain  to  him.  To 
draw  one  without  drawing  the  other  is  as  impossible  as 
it  would  be  to  photograph  a  wrestler  in  action  without 
catching  at  the  same  time  the  champion  with  whom  he 
was  locked.  In  his  previous  book,  the  present  writer 
has  already  made  a  portrait  of  Hutchinson  :  it  is,  how- 
ever, meagre,  and  the  idea  has  constantly  pressed  that 
this  man,  so  long  neglected  and  misrepresented,  one  of 
the  worthiest  of  the  sons  of  Massachusetts,  ought  to 
have  a  book  to  himself.  Though  traversing  to  a  large 
extent  the  same  ground  as  in  the  "  Samuel  Adams," 
the  author  has  made  the  attempt  to  repeat  himself  as 
little  as  possible.  Some  documents,  quoted  in  the 
earlier  book,  it  was  necessary  to  give  also  in  the  present 
work.  A  few  pages  also  have  been  quoted  from  the 
earlier  text.  It  will  be  found,  however,  that  the  chap- 
ters here  are  not  reproductions  of  the  former  consid- 
erations ;  in  great  part,  it  is  the  pen  of  Hutchinson 
himself  which  describes  events,  the  present  writer  ap- 
pending comments  to  elucidate  or  modify,  as  the  case 
seems  to  require. 

^  Samuel  Adams  (American  Statesmen  Series)  ;  Houghton,  Mifflin  & 
Co.,  1885. 


INTRODUCTION.  xxvii 

Large  quotations  have  been  made  in  the  text  and  in 
the  Appendix  from  the  Journals  of  the  Massachusetts 
Provincial  Legislature  during  the  years  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  Revolution.  To  follow  Hutchinson's  career 
is  a  study  in  political  embryology.  In  the  controversy 
between  the  Governor  on  one  side  and  the  Council  and 
Assembly  on  the  other,  a  frame  no  less  important  than 
the  United  States  was  taking  shape  :  those  struggles 
were  the  pre-natal  stirrings  of  one  of  the  mightiest 
births  of  time.  The  record  of  them  is  contained  in  doc- 
uments not  printed  since  the  year  1818/  seldom  con- 
sulted in  our  generation  even  by  students  ;  documents, 
however,  of  the  greatest  value  and  interest  as  me- 
morials of  a  contest  so  important,  and,  according  to 
eminent  authorities,  of  extraordinary  ability.  They 
embalm,  in  fact,  the  great  word-war  which  came  be- 
fore the  actual  clash  of  arms  upon  the  battle-field. 
America  has  had  no  more  earnest  or  able  sons  than 
some  of  the  men  from  whom  these  papers  proceeded. 
They  are  the  most  elaborate  utterances  of  those  men, 
and  should  not  remain  in  neglect. 

No  satisfactory  jDortrait  of  Hutchinson  exists.  A 
likeness  by  Edward  Truman,  supposed  to  have  been 
painted  in  1741,  much  defaced,  it  is  said,  by  the  bayo- 
nets of  Revolutionary  soldiers,  hangs  in  the  hall  of  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  The  Society  pos- 
sesses still  another  portrait,  attributed  to  Copley ;  but 
showing  a  face   much  too   youthful   for  that   of  the 

1  Massachusetts  State  Papers,  1765-1775,  edited  by  Alden  Bradford  ; 
Russell  &  Gardner,  Boston,  1818  :  described  also  on  the  title-page  as 
"  Speeches  of  the  Massachusetts  Governors  from  1765  to  1775  and  the 
Answers  of  the  House  of  Representatives  to  the  Same." 


xxviii  INTRODUCTION. 

Hutchinson  of  Copley's  time.  Copley  may  have  copied 
the  earlier  work,  but  can  hardly  have  wrought  from 
the  life.  He  presents  a  young  man  of  handsome  and 
intellectual  features,  but  with  few  marks  of  the  force 
and  grave  dignity  to  be  expected  in  the  countenance. 
It  is  unfortunate  that  the  skillful  painter  who  has  pre- 
served so  vividly  for  us  the  traits  of  John  Hancock 
and  Samuel  Adams,  should  have  set  forth  inadequately 
their  great  opponent. 

In  conclusion,  it  must  be  stated  that  this  book,  like 
the  lives  of  Samuel  Adams  and  Young  Sir  Henry  Vane, 
and  the  "  Short  History  of  Anglo-Saxon  Freedom,"  has 
been  written  for  the  late  lamented  Mrs.  Mary  Hemen- 
way,  —  a  carrying  out  of  her  Old  South  work.  That 
noble  woman's  candor  was  as  remarkable  as  her  patriotic 
enthusiasm.  While  stimulating,  in  every  way  she 
could,  interest  in  and  love  for  our  country  and  the 
men  who  brought  it  into  being,  she  had  a  kind  thought 
for  the  foe  who  honestly  stood  against  them,  and  she 
I  desired  to  have  justice  done  the  victim,  as  well  as  to 

have  praise  rendered  the  victors. 

J.  K.  HOSMER. 
MiNXEAPOLis  Public  Libraky. 
February  7,  189G. 


THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON. 


CHAPTER  I. 

YOUNG    MANHOOD    AND    ENVIRONMENT. 

The  first  mention  of  Thomas  Hutchinson,  son  of 
Thomas  Hutchinson  and  Sarah  Foster,  his  wife,  is  con- 
tained in  an  account-hook  kept  hy  his  mother,  from 
which  his  great-grandson,  Peter  Orlando  Hutchinson, 
makes  many  extracts.^ 

"  1711,  September  the  10th  Martha  Pue  came  to 
suckle  my  child  Thomas  Hutchinson  for  6  shillings  per 
week  and  4  weeks  ;  after  this  nurse  came  on  Monday 
the  8  of  October.     I  paid  her  1  :  4." 

The  boy  had  been  born  on  the  day  previous,  Septem- 
ber 9th,  being  the  fourth  child  in  a  family  which  came 
to  number  twelve.  No  mention  of  his  boyhood  is  to 
be  found  except  in  a  brief  account  by  himself  contained 
in  an  autobiographical  sketch  which  he  ]3repared  late  in 
life.  His  home  was  the  handsome  mansion  in  Garden 
Court  Street,  at  the  North  End  of  Boston,  pictures  of 
which  have  come  down  to  us.^     It  was  the  finest  house 

1  Diary  and  Letters  of  Thomas  Hutchinson,  edited  by  P.  O.  Hutchinson, 
vol,  i.,  p.  41. 

2  American  Magazine,  February,  1836. 


2  THE  LIFE   OF   THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1727 

in  town  ;  Thomas  was  the  first  child  born  into  it.  He 
became  in  due  time  its  possessor,  and  it  continued  to 
be  his  home  until  its  destruction  by  a  mob  in  1765. 
When  five  and  a  half  years  old,  he  began  to  go  to  the 
North  Grammar  School,  proceeding  thence,  at  the  age 
of  twelve,  to  Harvard  College.  He  speaks  slightingly 
of  his  college  life,  declaring  that  he  knew  little  more  at 
his  graduation  in  1727  than  he  did  when  he  entered. 
The  following  scrap  from  the  autobiography  may  serve 
to  show  his  lack  of  a  sense  of  humor,  if  nothing  else  : 
"  It  was  part  of  the  exercise  of  the  scholars  to  read  a 
verse  or  two  each  out  of  a  Latin  Testament  into  Greek 
every  morning  at  prayer-time  before  prayer  in  the  Hall ; 
and  it  was  a  practice  of  some  to  take  a  leaf  of  the 
Greek  Testament  and  put  it  into  the  Latin  Testament, 
which  was  termed  '  hoofueino-.'  Youns;  Hutchinson 
was  temjited  once  to  follow  so  base  an  example  ;  but 
guilt  appeared  so  strong  in  his  face  that  the  President 
ordered  him  to  show  his  book,  which  he  did  in  great 
confusion,  and  received  this  severe  reproof :  '  A  te  non 
expectam,^  and  a  small  pecuniary  punishment.  The 
first  part  made  the  deepest  impression,  and  cured  him 
of  the  disease  of  '  hogueing '  for  the  rest  of  the  time 
he  remained  at  college."  ^  Three  years  after  graduating, 
he  took  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  reading  on  Com- 
mencement afternoon  a  thesis  on  the  topic,  "  Is  a  Col- 
lege Education  of  Service  to  one  who  Travels  ?  " 

He  was  apparently  a  grave  and  proper  boy,  taking 
hold  precociously  of  serious  work.  He  carried  on  small 
trading  ventures  in  vessels  owned  by  his  father,  keep- 

*  Diary  and  Letters,  vol.  i.,  p.  46. 


1734]        YOUNG  MANHOOD  AND   ENVIllONMENT.  3 

ing  strict  accounts  in  the  methodical  way  which  marked 
him  through  life.  At  once,  on  graduating,  he  became 
a  merchant-apprentice  in  his  father's  counting-room, 
but  found  some  time  for  books.  He  studied  Latin, 
working  also  at  French  with  Le  Mercier,  the  Huguenot 
minister,  until  he  became  well  versed  in  the  two  lan- 
guages. His  reading  was  largely  of  history,  for  which 
he  showed  a  fondness  even  thus  early.  He  mentions 
as  favorite  books,  Morton's  "  New  England  Memorial," 
Church's  "  History  of  the  Indian  War,"  and  Mather's 
"  Lives  of  the  New  England  Governors."  Baker's 
"  Chronicle  "  and  Fox's  "  Martyrs  "  also  interested  him, 
while  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Charles  I.  made  him 
weep.  As  he  grew  toward  manhood,  he  mingled  in 
such  life  as  Boston  afforded,  counting  among  his  friends 
Hawke,  Fitzroy,  and  other  young  officers,  some  of  them 
in  later  years  famous  commanders,  who  then  were 
midshipmen  or  lieutenants  attached  to  ships  on  the 
North  American  station.  Though  companionable,  he 
was  serious  and  thrifty,  having  amassed  at  twenty-one 
<£400  or  £500  by  his  own  schemes.  Li  1732,  when 
Governor  Belcher  went  to  Casco  Bay  to  make  a  treaty 
with  the  Indians,  young  Hutchinson  was  in  his  com- 
pany, in  a  ship  of  which  he  was  half  owner,  on  board 
which  he  entertained  a  party  of  young  fellows  of  his 
own  age,  among  them  the  Governor's  son. 

A  youth  well-to-do,  well  born,  and  of  good  character, 
he  did  not  need  to  wait  long  for  a  wife.  In  a  quaint 
old-fashioned  description,  he  records  the  story  of  his 
connection  with  Mary,  Margaret,  and  Grizel  Sanford, 
daughters  of  a  Governor  of  Rhode  Island,  and  heiresses. 


4  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1737 

Mary  Sanford  became  the  wife  of  Andrew  Oliver,  a 
man  with  whom  the  career  of  Hutchinson  is  closely 
knit.  Grizel  remained  unmarried,  an  inmate  through 
life  of  Hutchinson's  household.  Margaret  became  his 
wdfe,  in  her  seventeenth  year.  She  was  tenderly  loved 
through  nineteen  years  ;  and  after  her  death  the  refer- 
ences to  her  are  pathetic,  which  here  and  there  occur  in 
her  husband's  notes.  In  1735,  he  joined  the  church; 
in  1737,  he  became  selectman  of  Boston;  and  a  month 
or  two  later,  having  been  elected  Representative  to 
the  General  Court,  with  Elisha  Cooke,  Thomas  Cushing, 
and  Timothy  Prout,  at  the  age  of  twenty-six  he  entered 
upon  a  public  career  strangely  and  sadly  varied,  to  the 
study  of  which  we  must  now  address  ourselves. 

When  Thomas  Hutchinson  stepped  into  leadership, 
he  seemed  simply  to  come  to  his  own  ;  for,  since  the 
foundation  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  there  had  been  no 
time  when  some  of  his  name  and  line  had  not  been 
in  the  foreground.  The  first  of  the  family  to  acquire 
prominence  was  that  eccentric  but  strong-souled  en- 
thusiast, Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson,  heroine  of  the  Anti- 
nomian  controversy,  who  won  to  her  side  even  men  of 
such  power  as  John  Cotton  and  young  Henry  Vane. 
Her  grandson,  Elisha  Hutchinson,  became,  under  the 
old  charter,  the  first  Chief  Justice  of  the  Common 
Pleas,  and  afterwards  Assistant  and  Commander  of  the 
Forces.  Under  the  new  charter,  while  retaining  his 
judicial  position,  he  became  also  Councilor,  being  still 
in  ofiice  at  his  death  in  1717,  a  citizen  of  the  first 
eminence.  His  son,  Thomas  Hutchinson,  Councilor 
from  1714  to  1739,  had  note  scarcely  less.     He  was 


1737]         YOUNG  MANHOOD   AND   ENVIRONMENT.  5 

colonel  also  of  the  1st  Suffolk  regiment,  a  man  of  inde- 
pendent and  resolute  character.  "  He  was  the  man  who 
seized  the  famous  Captain  Kidd,  when  he  resisted  the 
officers  of  justice  sent  against  him."^  He  was  the 
father  of  our  subject. 

To  sketch  the  institutions  with  which  Thomas  Hutch- 
inson was  concerned,  and  the  environment  into  which 
he  was  born,  it  must  be  noted  that  the  first  charter  of 
the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay  was  that  of  a  trad- 
ing corporation,  drawn  with  much  indefiniteness,  and 
converted  without  color  of  law  into  an  instrument  of 
government  for  a  political  body."  A  Governor,  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, and  eighteen  Assistants,  elected  by  the 
stockholders  of  the  company,  managed  affairs.  The 
colonists  were  to  possess  "  the  rights  of  EngHshmen," 
but  were  without  voice  in  the  polity.  Very  soon,  how- 
ever, the  interests  of  the  company  were  transferred 
across  the  sea,  the  plantation  becoming  self-governing. 
For  fifty  years,  according  to  an  enactment  of  the  Gen- 
eral Court  of  1631,  only  church  members  could  become 
freemen,  a  provision  which  put  power  into  the  hands  of 
a  fcAv  ;  but  with  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary  a 
great  change  came  to  pass.  In  spite  of  the  reluctance 
of  the  New  England  rulers,  Massachusetts,  Plymouth, 
and  Maine,  combined  into  one  Province,  were  forced  to 
receive  a  new  charter,  radically  different  from  that  of 
the  preceding  time.  Toleration  was  prescribed  for  all 
sects  excepting  papists,  and  the  right  of  suffrage,  in- 

^  Eliot's  NeiL'  England  Biographical  Dictionary. 
-  Chalmers  :  Political  Annals,  ch.  vii. 


6  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1737 

stead  of  being  limited  to  church  members,  was  bestowed 
on  all  inhabitants  possessing  a  freehold  of  the  annual 
value  of  forty  shillings,  or  personal  property  to  the 
value  of  <£40.  The  King  appointed  the  Governor, 
Lieutenant-Governor,  and  Secretary.  A  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives or  Assembly  formed  one  branch  of  the 
General  Court  or  Legislature,  the  members  of  which 
were  elected  every  year  by  the  towns.  The  second 
branch  was  formed  by  the  Council,  a  body  of  twenty- 
eight  members,  appointed  in  the  first  instance  by  the 
King,  but  afterwards  elected  each  year  jointly  by  the 
old  Council  and  the  Assembly ;  the  Governor  possessed 
the  power  of  negativing  thii'teen  out  of  the  twenty- 
eight.  The  Governor  possessed,  too,  the  power  of  a 
negative  upon  all  acts  of  the  General  Court,  which  he 
eould  also  summon,  adjourn,  and  dissolve.  He  was  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  militia,  whose  officers  he  could 
appoint.  The  Assembly  had,  among  other  powers,  the 
important  power  of  the  purse.  As  to  the  Council, 
in  all  official  acts  its  concurrence  was  necessary;  its 
members  were  besides  the  special  advisers  of  the  Gov- 
ernor. To  the  King  was  reserved  the  power  of  dis- 
annulling any  act  within  three  years  after  its  passage.^ 

Of  the  judicial  institutions  established  by  the  Gen- 
eral Court  in  1692,  and  continued  with  little  change 
until  the  Revolution,  the  Superior  Court  was  at  the 
head,  consisting  of  a  Chief  Justice  and  four  associate 
judges.  To  this  Court  was  assigned  all  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  English  Common  Pleas,  King's  Bench,  and 

^  For  the  text  of  the  two  charters,  see  Ben:  Perley  Poore  :   Constitu- 
tions and  Charters,  vol.  i. 


1737]        YOUXG  MANHOOD  AND   ENVIRONMENT.  7 

Exchequer.  In  the  counties,  Courts  of  Common  Pleas 
cared  for  smaller  civil  cases  ;  Courts  of  Sessions,  com- 
posed of  Justices  of  the  Peace,  for  smaller  criminal 
cases;  Courts  of  Probate,  for  settling  the  estates  of  per- 
sons deceased.  Public  prosecutions  were  conducted  by 
an  Attorney-General.  The  functionaries  of  this  system 
held  office  under  appointment  of  the  Governor,  the  con- 
firmation of  the  Council  being  necessary.  From  1694 
a  Court  of  Vice- Admiralty  existed,  empowered  to  try 
without  jury  all  maritime  and  revenue  cases,  an  insti- 
tution which  from  the  first  was  strenuously  opposed.^ 

In  1728,  the  charter  of  William  and  Mary  was 
amended,  after  violent  disputes  between  Governor  Shute 
and  the  House,  by  the  addition  of  a  clause  giving  the 
Governor  power  to  negative  the  Speaker  chosen  by 
the  House ;  and  also  a  clause  making  it  impossible  for 
the  House  to  adjourn  by  its  own  vote  for  a  longer  term 
than  two  days. 

To  these  institutions  of  the  Province  of  Massachu- 
setts Bay  must  be  added  the  one  which,  though  lowest 
of  all,  is  much  the  most  celebrated  and  important. 
The  question  as  to  the  origin  of  the  Town-Meeting  is  by 
no  means  satisfactorily  answered.  The  claim  of  E.  A. 
Freeman,  that  the  Town-Meeting  is  the  ancient  Anglo- 
Saxon  folk-mote,  persisting  in  all  its  essential  features 
through  nearly  two  thousand  years,  has  been  challenged, 
and  is  to-day  more  cautiously  advanced  than  once. 
Since    Seebohm  ^  and  Coote  ^  have   written,  historians 

^  Washburn  :  Judicial  Hist,  of  Massachusetts,  cli.  ix. 
2  The  English  Village  Community,  1883. 
8  The  Romans  of  Britain,  1878. 


8  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1737 

will  scarcely  dare  to  paint  the  self-government  of  our 
Teuton  forefathers  with  such  definite  traits  as  those 
which  mark  the  picture  of  J.  R.  Green.  The  book  of 
Douglas  Campbell/  however  one-sided,  has  nevertheless 
made  it  clear  that  when  no  thought  is  given  to  influ- 
ences from  Holland,  the  story  of  early  New  England  is 
unsatisfactorily  told. 

The  plain  basis  of  the  town  system  in  Massachu- 
setts is  an  order  of  the  General  Court  passed  in  1635, 
which,  copied  substantially  in  1641  by  Nathaniel  Ward 
into  his  "Body  of  Liberties,"  stands  as  follows:  "The 
freemen  of  every  township  shall  have  power  to  make 
such  by-laws  and  constitutions  as  may  concern  the  wel- 
fare of  their  town,  provided  they  be  not  of  a  criminal, 
but  only  of  a  prudential  nature,  and  that  their  penal- 
ties exceed  not  twenty  shillings  for  one  offense,  and 
that  they  be  not  repugnant  to  the  pubHc  laws  and  or- 
ders of  the  country.  .  .  .  The  freemen  of  every  town, 
or  township,  shall  have  full  power  to  choose  yearly,  or 
for  less  time,  out  of  themselves,  a  convenient  niunber 
of  fit  men  to  order  the  planting  or  prudential  occasions 
of  that  town,  according  to  instructions  given  them  in 
writing,  provided  nothing  be  done  by  them  contrary  to 
the  public  laws  and  orders  of  the  country ;  pro\'ided 
also  the  number  of  such  select  persons  be  not  above 
nine."  The  colonists  followed  English  precedents,  no 
doubt  to  some  extent  unconsciously,  but  also  to  some 
extent  consciously.  In  1647,  the  town  of  Boston,  to 
which  all  the  other  towns  of  the  Province  from  the 
beginning  looked  for  guidance  and  example,  voted  to 

^  The  Puritan  in  Holland,  England,  and  America,  1892. 


1737]        YOUNG  MANHOOD  AND  ENVIRONMENT.  9 

procure  for  the  town's  use  various  English  law-books, 
among'  them  Dalton's  "  Justice  of  the  Peace,"  and  Coke 
upon  Lyttelton  and  upon  Magna  Charta.  With  the 
new  charter  of  William  and  Mary's  time  came  in  the 
broader  suffrage,  the  franchise  no  longer  being  re- 
stricted to  church  members,  but  being  extended  to 
"  the  free-holders  and  other  inhabitants  of  each  town 
ratable  at  twenty  pounds  estate."  Practically,  the 
votino-  at  Town-Meeting'  came,  before  the  American 
Revolution,  to  be  universal.  "  The  free-holders  and 
other  inhabitants "  at  Town-Meeting  not  only  cast 
votes,  but  formed  also  a  deliberative  body,  which,  as 
the  Revolution  came  on,  far  from  confining  itself  to 
petty  local  matters,  discussed  topics  wide  as  the  British 
empire ;  not  hesitating,  too,  to  pass  judgment  upon 
them,  and  to  seek  in  turbident  ways  to  give  effect  to 
their  decisions.^ 

However  originating,  the  New  England  Town-Meet- 
ing of  Hutchinson's  day  was  an  assembly  to  which  all 
flocked,  high  and  low.  The  selectmen,  of  their  own 
volition,  or  upon  application  of  several  of  their  towns- 
men, were  authorized  to  issue  the  warrant.  In  this  the 
business  to  be  engaged  in  was  specified,  and  only  that 
could  come  up  for  action.  The  inhabitants  having 
been  warned  to  attend,  those  that  were  present  had  a 
right  to  proceed,  though  but  a  fraction  of  the  popula- 
tion. Liberty  of  speech  was  shared  by  all,  rich  or 
poor  ;  character  and  ability  coming  to  the  front,  while 
wealth  and  family  were  treated  often  with   scant  cere- 

1  J.  H.  Biigbee  :  The  Founders  of  Boston,  p.  6.  Johns  Hopkins  Univ. 
Studies,  5th  series,  No.  3. 


10  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1737 

mony.  Every  freeman  could  vote  as  he  chose,  and  the 
votes  of  all  weighed  equally.  Such  is  the  account  of 
a  writer  of  the  time.^  As  the  Town-Meeting  of  the 
Revolutionary  period  was  an  evolution,  so  the  business 
with  which  it  dealt  as  time  went  on  constantly  enlarged. 
Following  the  records  of  Boston,  for  instance,  the  town 
of  towns,  in  which  the  Town-Meeting  can  be  studied 
to  best  advantage,  the  minutes  at  first  relate  to  matters 
of  purely  local  interest.  With  the  coming  into  office 
of  William  Cooper,  however,  town  clerk  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary period,  the  sphere  greatly  broadens.  Boston 
is  in  its  fight  with  George  III.,  and  questions  wide  as 
two  hemispheres  become  the  subject  of  speech  and  vote. 
Hutchinson,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  believed  this  ex- 
pansion of  the  functions  of  the  Town-Meeting  to  be 
unconstitutional  and  a  thing  to  be  repressed.  Certainly 
it  was  without  precedent,  not  only  in  America,  but  in 
England,  except  in  that  shadowy  freedom  of  the  forests 
clear  knowledge  of  which  it  is  so  difficult  to  recover. 

Probably  the  greatest  service  the  Town-Meeting  has 
rendered  has  been  as  an  instrument  of  education.  In 
managing  affairs  both  great  and  small,  it  has  often 
done  unwisely.  When  it  has  delegated  power  to  a 
superior  mind,  in  any  difficult  emergency,  it  has  too 
often  tied  the  hands  of  its  delegfate  so  that  his  su- 
periority  has  become  impotent  for  good.  In  Town- 
Meeting  action  at  the  present  moment,  as  well  in  New 
Eno-land  as  in  the  gfreat  communities  of  the  West  which 
have  followed  more  or   less   closely  New  England  ex- 

^  Gordon  :  Hist,  of  the  Independence  of  the   United  States  of  America, 
vol.  i.,  p.  382. 


1737]        YOUNG  MANHOOD   AND   ENVIRONMENT.  11 

ample,  meanness  and  folly  are  too  often  the  ontcome ; 
nor  has  it  ever  been  otherwise,  as  those  know  who  read 
the  doenments,  nnblinded  by  any  glamonr  thrown  over 
a  past  time/  Yet  when  all  is  said  that  can  be  said,  the 
plain  people  in  Town-Meeting  assembled  have  done  the 
rio'ht  thing-  at  the  rigflit  time  more  often  than  not.  Set 
the  New  England  way  side  by  side  with  any  more  re- 
stricted polity,  management  by  a  few,  or  management 
by  one  :  it  may  be  confidently  claimed  that  way  will 
come  out  of  the  comparison  with  credit.  The  record 
of  sordidness  and  stupidity  is  finely  balanced  by  acts 
heroic  and  full  of  prudence ;  and  were  the  page  of  its 
failures  far  more  impressive  than  it  is,  the  debt  due 
the  Town-Meeting,  as  a  school  for  the  development  of 
self-reliant,  self-respecting  manhood,  will  make  up  for 
its  failures  many  times  over. 

Indeed,  not  the  Tow^n-Meeting  itself  does  so  much 
to  educate,  as  the  conditions  which  in  any  society 
the  Town-Meetinof  necessitates.  The  Town-Meetinofs 
usually  are  infrequent,  often  not  more  than  one  or 
two  in  a  year.  They,  however,  presuppose  or  inev- 
itably bring  to  pass  an  atmosphere,  so  to  speak,  highly 
salutary.     As  Bryce  puts  it :  — 

"  The  existence  of  public  opinion,  the  practice  of 
always  reading,  talking,  and  judging  of  public  affairs 
with  a  view  to  voting,  —  this,  rather  than  the  possession 
of  pohtical  rights,  gives  to  popular  government  that 
educative  and  stimulative  power  which  is  so  frequently 
claimed  as  its  highest  merit.      History  does  not  sup- 

'  See  C.  F.  Adams'  study  of  the  past  of  the  towu  of  Quiucy,  iu  Three 
Episodes  of  Mass.  Hist. 


12  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1737 

port  the  doctrine  that  the  mere  enjoyment  of  power  fits 
hirge  masses  o£  men,  any  more  than  individuals  and 
classes,  for  its  exercise.  Along  with  that  enjoyment 
must  be  one  or  more  of  various  auspicious  conditions, 
such  as  a  direct  and  fairly  equal  interest  in  the  common 
welfare,  the  presence  of  a  class  or  group  of  persons  re- 
spected and  competent  to  guide,  an  absence  of  religious 
or  race  hatreds,  a  high  level  of  education,  or  at  least 
of  intelligence,  old  habits  of  local  self-government,  the 
practice  of  unlimited  free  discussion.  In  America,  not 
simply  the  habit  of  voting,  but  the  briskness  and  breezi- 
ness  of  the  w^hole  atmosphere  of  public  life,  and  the 
process  of  obtaining  information  and  discussing  it,  of 
hearing  and  judging  each  side,  form  the  citizen's  intelli- 
gence.    The  voting  power  must  supplement  this."  ^ 

Such  were  the  institutions  into  the  midst  of  which 
Hutchinson  was  born,  —  in  the  higher  range  devised 
and  imposed  by  an  outside  power,  a  shackle  under 
which  the  community  forever  fretted,  until  at  last  the 
shackle  was  burst  and  laid  aside ;  in  the  lower  range 
an  outgrowth  as  natural  as  the  shell  which  develops 
upon  the  mollusk,  shaped  accurately  to  the  figure  of  the 
wearer,  giving  free  play  to  its  members,  a  defense  and 
at  the  same  time  an  instrument  of  efficiency. 

The  people  inhabiting  the  two  hundred  towns  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  whose  Representatives  sat  thus 
yearly  in  the  Assembly  Chamber  in  the  Old  State 
House,  with  the  Governor  and  Council  close  at  hand 
across  a  narroAv  corridor,  were  among  the  sturdiest  of 
the  sturdiest  race,  perhaps,  which  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

^  American  Commonwealth,  vol.  ii.,  p.  356. 


1737]        YOUNG  MANHOOD  AND  ENVIRONMENT.  13 

Whatever  may  be  said  to-day  for  other  stocks,  the 
130,000,000  of  EiigHsh-speaking-  men  have  been  able 
to  make  themselves  masters  of  the  world  to  an  extent 
which  no  people  has  thus  far  approached ;  and,  with  a 
might  unexampled  and  often  ruthless,  are  laying  hands 
upon  the  fairest  portions  of  all  the  continents.  Of  this 
masterful  seed,  the  Puritans  of  the  seventeenth  century 
are  undoubtedly  the  sifted  wheat.  What  ruler  of  cir- 
cumstance has  sprung  from  this  stock  comparable  to 
Oliver  Cromwell !  He  was  but  the  central  and  culmi- 
nating figure  in  a  generation  similarly  endowed,  —  the 
men  of  the  English  Commonwealth,  brethren  of  whom 
sunk  deep  the  pillars  of  a  new  society  in  the  new 
world,  Avhile  the  Stuart  was  smitten  at  Naseby  and  the 
sceptre  of  the  seas  for  the  first  time  won  to  English 
grasp.  Grandsons  of  these  men  were  the  people  with 
whom  we  at  present  have  to  do,  of  strain  quite  unmixed, 
except  as  a  trace  of  Huguenot  blood  had  become  in- 
jected into  it  from  France,  pressed  out  through  the 
Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 

But  let  us  be  under  no  delusions  as  to  our  Revolu- 
tionary forefathers.  While  so  forceful  and  in  the  main 
honest,  the  careful  student  finds  that  they  were  coarse 
and  violent  in  a  way  in  which  their  descendants  are  not, 
while  public  spirit  was  as  rare  a  virtue  among  them  as 
it  is  in  our  own  time.  They  were  indeed  strangely  un- 
sensitive  in  points  where  their  great-grandchildren  have 
come  to  feel  acutely.  The  story  told  of  a  Boston  min- 
ister in  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  that, 
wishing  to  get  a  negro  slave  cheap,  he  dispatched  to  the 
coast  of  Africa  a  hogshead  of  rum,  promptly  receiving 


14  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1737 

in  return  a  kidnapped  black  boy,  is  probably  not  ex- 
aofSferated.  The  distilling-  of  rum  was  one  of  the  chief 
industries ;  and  the  ships  created  so  abundantly  in  the 
New  England  shipyards  were,  in  the  opinion  of  that 
time,  quite  innocently  employed  when  used  as  slavers. 
The  business  of  some  traders  counted  as  of  good  repute 
was  of  a  kind  to  make  one's  hair  stand  on  end.  The 
merchants  of  Newport,  in  the  time  of  the  Stamp  Act, 
when  their  trade  was  threatened,  detail  in  a  naive  me- 
morial to  the  King,  with  no  compunction,  a  commerce 
with  Africa  which  to-day  ruffians  would  scarcely  confess 
to.^  As  regards  intemperance,  any  faithful  picture  of 
jjre-Revolutionary  times  will  be  full  of  unpleasant  fea- 
tures. In  humane  effort,  the  ah  c  was  yet  to  be  learned : 
the  treatment  of  prisoners,  paupers,  and  insane  was  bar- 
barous. Hard,  too,  was  the  lot  of  children.  "It  is  safe 
to  say  that  if,  by  any  chance,  the  Braintree  village  school 
of  the  last  century  could  for  a  single  fortnight  be 
brought  back  to  the  Quincy  of  1890,  parents  would  in 
horror  and  astonishment  keep  their  children  at  home 
until  a  Town-Meeting,  called  at  the  shortest  possible 
legal  notice,  could  be  held  ;  and  this  meeting  would 
probably  culminate  in  a  riot,  in  the  course  of  which 
school-house,  as  well  as  school,  would  be  summarily 
abated  as  a  disgrace  and  a  nuisance."  ^  This  is  hardly 
too  enerofetic.  It  was  indeed  the  reisfn  of  King"  Raw- 
hide,  whose  dominion  comprehended  the  home  scarcely 
less  than  the  school. 

The  world  of  that  time  seems  curiously  incongruous. 

*  Massachusetts  Gazette,  Dec.  13,  1764. 

2  C.  F.  Adams  :   Three  Episodes  of  Mass.  Hist.,  p.  782. 


1737]        YOUNG  MANHOOD   AND   ENVIRONMENT.  15 

From  the  crowd,  often  so  rough  and  besotted,  represen- 
tatives came  forth  whose  state  papers,  as  we  shall  see, 
have  the  highest  tone.  The  manifestoes  of  the  Town- 
Meetings,  which  a  drunken  mob  sometimes  turned  into 
a  bear-garden,  have  frequently  a  manly,  indeed  a  lofty, 
spirit.  If  the  advertisements  of  the  day  can  be  trusted, 
there  was  a  better  market  in  Boston  for  solid  literature 
than  in  some  modern  American  cities  ten  times  as  large. 
Men  and  women,  humane  and  amiable,  bore  then*  part 
in  the  midst  of  this  turbulent  life,  no  better  type  of 
whom  can  be  found  than  Thomas  Hutchinson  hunself . 

Vigorous  the  community  was,  of  course,  to  the  last 
degree.  In  the  interior,  the  farmer  resolutely  wrung  a 
living  from  the  sand  and  granite  upon  which  the  colony 
in  the  beginning  had  been  dropped.  In  the  coast  towns, 
the  most  enterprising  of  merchants  sent  to  sea  sailors  as 
fearless  as  Leif  or  Eric.  The  na\dgation  laws  of  the 
statute-book  were,  for  the  most  part,  only  recognized  to 
be  broken.  Of  manufacturing,  there  was  little.  On 
farm  and  ocean,  however,  the  outlet  for  energy  was 
abundant :  and  energy  was  the  note  of  Massachusetts 
life,  marking  the  husbandman  as  he  reaped  and  delved  ; 
the  trader  as  he  schemed  ;  the  rover  as  he  chased  the 
whale,  or  bartered  his  lumber  and  rum,  now  on  arctic, 
now  on  tropic  coasts.  Every  peaceful  channel  was  fol- 
lowed wdth  ardor  ;  and  if  opposition  came,  a  spirit  at 
once  was  aroused  which  in  formal  war  coidd  rout  Dies- 
kau  and  capture  Louisburg,  or  in  domestic  disorders 
coidd  set  the  streets  of  Boston  in  an  uproar  to  the  light 
of  mob-io^nited  conflagrations. 


CHAPTER  II. 

FINANCIAL    SERVICES. 

May  31,  1737,  Thomas  Hutchinson  took  his  seat  in 
the  House.  Running  down  the  pages  of  the  House 
Journal,  we  may  follow  after  a  fashion  the  steps  of  the 
young  statesman,  as  he  rapidly  rises.  The  record  is 
meagre ;  but  from  the  frequency  of  mention  and  the 
responsible  character  of  the  business  in  which  he  is 
concerned,  it  is  quite  plain  that,  however  at  first  wealth 
and  influential  connections  may  have  smoothed  his  path, 
ability  in  him  soon  becomes  manifest,  and  a  front  place 
is  conceded  to  his  merits. 

His  first  duty  is,  as  one  of  a  committee,  to  congratu- 
late Kino'  Georsfe  IT.  on  his  safe  return  throuoli  a  storm 
from  Germany,^  entering  thus  upon  a  course  of  loyal 
deference  destined  to  last  through  life.  From  the  first, 
too,  he  is  set  to  deal  with  questions  of  finance,  being 
appointed  as  early  as  June  3  to  wrestle  with  a  tax-bill ; 
before  the  year  ends  he  is  settling  boundary  disputes.-^ 
It  is  perhaps  significant  that  he  is  once  charged  to  see 
justice  done  a  slave,  who,  though  freed  by  his  dead 
master's  will,  is  still  claimed  as  a  bondsman  by  his  mas- 
ter's son.^     He  early,  too,  reports  a  bill  for  the  relief  of 

'  House  Jonru.,  May  31,  1737. 
2  House  Journ.,  Oct.  14,  1737. 
8  Oct.  24,  1737. 


1741]  FINANCIAL  SERVICES.  17 

those  imprisoned  for  debt.^  With  business  of  all  these 
several  kinds,  we  shall  find  him  hereafter  to  be  much 
concerned,  working-  out  by  his  action  great  good,  —  now 
to  individual  men  and  women,  now  to  communities  and 
States.  The  boundary  dispute  in  particular  brought 
the  young  member  into  prominence.  In  running  the 
line  between  Massachusetts  Bay  and  New  Hampshire, 
a  laro-e  tract  of  land  had  been  taken  from  the  former, 
the  inhabitants  of  which  desired  to  return  to  the  juris- 
diction of  Massachusetts.  It  was  a  great  mark  of  con- 
fidence when,  in  1740,  he  was  appointed,  being  then 
twenty-nine,  to  go  to  England  to  represent  the  case  to 
men  in  power.  His  mention  of  his  English  journey  is 
brief  in  his  autobiography ;  nor  are  there  letters  ex- 
tant which  bear  upon  it.  He  made  a  stormy  Novem- 
ber passage  in  a  deep-laden  ship.  Without  fault  of  his, 
the  business  came  to  naught  through  the  failure  of  the 
proper  parties  to  supply  the  necessary  evidence.  He 
was  ill  at  ease  in  England,  homesick  for  the  Province 
and  his  family,  gladly  returning  after  thirteen  months 
of  absence. 

A  far  more  memorable  service  than  the  English 
agency  had  already  been  entered  upon  by  Hutchin- 
son, —  a  service  resumed  at  once  upon  his  return.  In 
this  he  was  thoroughly  successful  in  spite  of  great 
difficulties,  the  sequel  being  most  salutary  at  the  time, 
and  having  a  close  relation  with  the  coming  into  being 
of  the  United  States.  Throuohout  the  first  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century  New  England  was  cri^jpled  by  fool- 
ish financial  management.     In  Massachv.cetts,  the  use 

1  Dec.  20,  1737. 


18  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1741 

of  paper  money  dates  from  the  year  1690,  when  it  was 
introduced  to  defray  the  expenses  of  an  unsuccessful 
expedition  against  Canada.^  Notes  to  the  amount  of 
£40,000,  payable  in  one  year,  were  issued,  the  plausible 
idea  being  to  anticipate  by  a  few  months  only  the  pay- 
ment into  the  Treasury  of  the  annual  tax.  New  issues 
of  notes  followed  in  succeeding  years,  which  at  first 
were  punctually  redeemed  ;  but  a  looser  practice  crept 
in.  In  1704,  the  time  of  redemption  was  extended  to 
two  years  ;  the  printing-presses  teemed  more  than  ever, 
the  period  of  redemption  growing  longer,  until  at  last 
it  reached  thirteen  years.  The  confusion  and  deprecia- 
tion became  intolerable.  Madame  Knight,  who  made 
a  journey  through  New  England  early  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  of  which  an  account  remains,  sometimes  graphic 
and  racy,  describes  the  trading  of  the  time  :  — 

"  They  give  the  title  of  merchant  to  every  trader, 
who  rates  his  goods  according  to  the  time  and  specie 
they  pay  in  ;  viz.,  ^  pay,'  ^  money,'  ^  pay  as  money,'  and 
'  trusting.'  *  Pay '  is  grain,  pork,  and  beef,  etc.,  the 
prices  set  by  the  General  Court.  '  Money '  is  pieces  of 
eight,  ryals,  Boston  or  Bay  shillings,  or  good  hard 
money,  as  sometimes  silver  coin  is  called  ;  also  wampum, 
viz.,  Indian  beads,  which  serve  as  change.  ^  Pay  as 
money '  is  provision  aforesaid  one  third  cheaper  than 
the  Assembly  set  it ;  and  '  trust,'  as  they  agree  for  the 
time.     When  the  buyer  comes  to  ask  for  a  commodity, 

1  Authorities  for  the  financial  sketch  :  Felt  :  Hist,  of  the  Mass.  Cur- 
rency. Douglas  :  Financial  Hist,  of  Mass.  Columbia  Coll.  Stud,  in 
Hist.,  Econ.,  and  Public  Law,  1892.  Palfrey,  vols.  iv.  and  v.  Hutchin- 
son :  Hist,  of  Mass.  Bay,  vol.  ii.  Douglass  :  Summary  of  the  British  Settle- 
ments of  North  America,  Boston,  1755. 


1741]  FINANCIAL  SERVICES.  19 

sometimes  before  the  merchant  ansAvers  that  he  has  it, 
he  says  :  *  Is  your  pay  ready  ?  '  Perhaps  the  chap  re- 
plies, '  Yes.'  ^  What  do  you  pay  in  ? '  says  the  mer- 
chant. The  buyer  having  answered,  then  the  price  is 
set ;  as  suppose  he  wants  a  sixpenny  knife,  in  '  pay  '  it  is 
twelvepence  ;  in  '  pay  as  money,'  eightpence  ;  and  hard 
money,  its  own  value,  sixpence.  It  seems  a  very  intri- 
cate way  of  trade,  and  what  Lex  Mercatoria  had  not 
thought  of."  ' 

The  condition  grew  from  year  to  year  more  chaotic. 
To  the  classes  of  money  described  by  Madame  Knight, 
the  successive  issues  of  bills  added  constantly  new  ones. 
Other  colonies  kept  pace  with  Massachusetts,  and  some- 
times became  even  more  demented  ;  until  with  "  old," 
"middle,"  and  "new  tenor,"  with  "pay,"  "trust," 
and  "  j)ay  as  money,"  with  Rhode  Island  bills  and  Con- 
necticut bills  of  several  different  issues,  hard  money  at 
the  same  time  becoming  constantly  rarer,  the  shrewdest 
Yankee  brains  became  quite  unequal  to  the  work  of 
trading.  The  depreciation  of  the  currency  wrought 
great  suffering.  Rev.  Daniel  Appleton,  in  a  Fast-Day 
sermon  in  174:8,  states  the  case  of  a  widow  who  re- 
ceived in  money  <£3  a  year.  Originally,  this  would 
buy  two  cords  of  wood,  four  bushels  of  corn,  one 
bushel  of  rye,  one  bushel  of  malt,  fifty  pounds  of  pork, 
and  sixty  pounds  of  beef,  which  went  far  toward  her 
maintenance.  Now,  says  the  minister,  her  income  will 
purchase  only  one  half  or  one  quarter  as  much.  Those 
having  fixed  incomes  or  money  at  interest  especially 
suffered,  but  the  distress  was  universal ;  and  worse  than 

1  Quoted  by  Felt,  p.  54. 


20  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1741 

the  distress  was  the  siiikiiiQ^  of  the  moral  tone  of  the 
Puritan  state,  made  inevitable  by  the  unfortunate  con- 
ditions :  scarcely  less,  in  fact,  was  threatened  than  a 
destruction  of  the  social  organism.  Since  the  immense 
class  of  debtors  were  gainers  through  the  depreciation 
of  the  bills,  their  debts  being  diminished  the  longer 
they  remained  undischarged,  the  temptation  was  strong 
to  keep  out  of  their  just  rights  the  creditors,  who  were 
obliged  to  accept  twenty,  a  hundred  and  ten,  and  even 
a  hundred  and  sixty  per  cent,  less  than  the  real  value  of 
their  debts.  Debtors  disposed  to  fraud  were  greatly 
encouraged  by  the  fact  that  the  excessive  fall  in  value 
of  the  currency  in  which  the  fees  of  the  Court  were 
paid  brought  the  costs  of  a  suit  often  beloAv  the  interest 
on  the  debt.  It  became  a  common  practice,  even  in  the 
case  of  indisputable  obligations,  to  avoid  payment  until 
the  creditor  brought  suit,  the  feeling  being  that  it  paid 
the  debtor  well  to  stand  the  small  costs,  which  he  must 
do  if  the  suit  went  against  hmi,  and  enjoy  for  the 
longer  time  the  use  of  his  creditor's  money.  So  insen- 
sible did  men  become  to  the  discredit  of  this  "  that  it 
was  not  infrequent  for  persons  of  some  circumstances 
and  character  to  suffer  judgments  to  be  given  against 
them  by  default  in  open  court  for  such  debts,  and  to 
appeal  from  one  court  to  another  merely  for  delay ; 
whereby  lawsuits  were  scandalously  multiplied,  and  a 
litigious,  trickish  spirit  promoted  among  the  lower  sort 
of  people."  ^ 

Says  another  authority  of  the  time  :  — 

1  Shirley  :  Report  of  Board  of  Trade,  Dec.  23,  1743  ;  quoted  by  Palfrey, 
vol  v.,  p.  103. 


17il]  FINANCIAL  SERVICES.  21 

"  All  our  paper-money-making  Assemblies  have  been 
legislatures  of  debtors,  the  representatives  of  people, 
who,  from  ineognitancy,  idleness,  and  profuseness,  have 
been  under  a  necessity  of  mortgaging-  their  lands  ;  lands 
are  a  real  permanent  estate,  but  the  debt  in  paper  cur- 
rency by  its  multipHcation  depreciates  more  and  more 
...  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  creditors,  or  industrious 
frugal  part  of  the  colony  ;  this  is  the  wicked  mystery 
of  this  iniquitous  paper  currency."  ^ 

For  lono'  there  seemed  to  be  in  the  Province  neither 
force  nor  brains  to  bring  help  in  this  dreary  state  of 
things.  In  1714,  a  "  Pubhc  Bank "  was  talked  of, 
through  which  money  was  to  be  lent  by  the  Province 
for  a  definite  period,  secured  by  mortgage  on  real  prop- 
erty of  the  borrower.  This  scheme  was  frustrated  by 
one  for  a  "Private  Bank," — a  measure  neither  safe 
nor  honest,  —  which  was  refused  incorporation.  The 
disputes  over  these  expedients  lasted  for  years,  the  few 
wiser  heads  who  desired  a  return  to  a  coin  basis,  at  last, 
in  despair,  trying  to  uphold  the  Pubhc  Bank  as  the 
smaller  of  the  two  evils.  At  length,  royal  instruc- 
tions were  received  prohibiting,  except  on  express  per- 
mission from  the  King,  the  issue  of  new  notes  until 
those  already  outstanding  had  been  redeemed,  and 
fixing  the  year  1741  as  the  time  of  redemption.  This 
was  wholesome  restriction,  and  was  welcomed  and  helped 
forward  by  the  Governors  of  the  time,  the  Council,  and 
many  of  the  wiser  sort.  The  Assembly,  however,  re- 
flecting faithfully  the  people,  only  plunged  deeper  into 

^  Douglass  :  Summary  of  the  British  Settlements  of  North  America,  vol. 
i.,  p.  310,  note.     Boston,  1755. 


22  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1741 

trouble,  representing  so  energetically  the  hardship  suf- 
fered under  the  King's  prohibition  that  it  was  finally 
withdrawn. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  do  more  than  thus  outline  the 
folly  of  that  generation  and  the  misery  which  it  brought 
upon  itself.  The  New  England  of  that  day  was  saved 
by  one  of  its  own  children,  and  at  this  point  of  the 
distress  he  reveals  himself.  Hutchinson's  election  to 
the  Legislature  in  1737  was  in  spite  of  the  well-known 
fact  that  his  views  on  the  all-absorbing  question  of 
finance  were  opposed  to  those  of  the  majority.  The 
year  following  he  was  again  elected,  but  the  party  for 
paper  money  intended  to  put  it  out  of  his  power  to  hurt 
them  by  preparing  a  set  of  instructions  enjoining  the 
Kepresentatives  to  promote  the  emitting  of  more  paper 
money.  When  the  instructions  were  reported  in  Town- 
Meeting,  Hutchinson  was  at  once  on  his  feet  in  opposi- 
tion to  them,  and  declared  he  would  not  observe  them. 
"  Mr.  Balston,  a  vociferous  man,  called  out,  '  Choose 
another  Representative,'  but  this  was  not  seconded,  nor 
could  it  be  done.  During  the  session,  Hutchinson  con- 
sistently threw  his  influence  on  the  hard  money  side,  in 
that  way  so  far  losing  pojDularity  that  in  1739  he  was 
dropped.^  He  had  roused  the  wrath  of  the  majority 
by  proposing  in  the  House  to  borrow  in  England  a  sum 
in  silver  equal  to  all  the  bills  then  extant,  and  therewith 
to  redeem  them  from  their  possessors  and  furnish  a  cur- 
rency for  the  inhabitants ;  and  to  rejoay  the  silver  at 
distant  periods,  which  would  render  the  burden  of  taxes 
tolerable  by  an  equal  division  on  a  number  of  future 

1  Autobiography. 


1741]  FINANCIAL  SERVICES.  23 

years,  and  would  prevent  the  distress  of  trade  by  the 
loss  of  the  only  instrument,  the  bills  of  credit,  without 
another  provided  in  its  place."  ^ 

The  effort  of  the  young  deputy  toward  hard  money 
was  summarily  rejected  as  quite  impracticable,  the  Prov- 
ince turning  in  preference  to  a  revival  of  the  "  Private 
Bank"  or  "Land  Bank"  of  twenty-five  years  before. 
For  the  details  of  this  arrangement,  Hutchinson  him- 
self is  the  best  authority.  Seven  or  eight  hundred  per- 
sons, some  few  of  rank  and  good  estate,  but  gener- 
ally of  low  condition,  many  of  them  perhaps  insolvent, 
were  to  give  credit  to  £150,000,  to  be  issued  in  bills. 
Each  person  was  to  mortgage  real  estate  in  proportion 
to  the  sum  he  subscribed,  or  to  give  bond  with  two 
sureties;  but  personal  security  was  not  to  be  taken  for 
more  than  £100  from  any  one  person.  Ten  directors 
and  a  treasurer  were  to  be  chosen  by  the  company. 
Every  borrower  was  to  pay  every  year  three  per  cent, 
interest  and  five  per  cent,  of  the  principal  of  the  sum 
taken  out ;  it  being  understood  that,  besides  bills,  prod- 
uce and  manufactures  of  the  Province  might  also  be 
rendered  at  such  rates  as  the  directors  from  time  to  time 
should  set.  The  plan  won  great  favor.  The  Assem- 
bly returned  for  1740  in  large  majority  favored  it,  and 
was  know^n  therefore  afterwards  as  the  "  Land  Bank 
House."  Men  of  estates  and  the  principal  merchants  in 
the  Province  abhorred  the  project,  and  refused  to  re- 
ceive the  bills,  but  many  small  traders  gave  them  credit. 
The  looseness  of  the  scheme  soon  became  apparent. 
The  directors  issued  bills  without  any  fund  or  security 

'  Hutchinson  :  Hist,  of  Mass.  Bay,  vol.  ii.,  p.  351,  etc. 


24  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1741 

that  they  would  ever  be  redeemed.  They  purchased 
every  sort  of  commodity,  though  ever  so  much  a  drug, 
for  the  sake  of  pushing  off  their  bills,  until  they  had 
put  out  £50,000  or  £60,000.  The  Governors,  Belcher 
and  afterwards  Shirley,  and  the  Councils  exerted  them- 
selves to  blast  the  scheme.  Prompt  displacement  took 
place  of  such  civil  and  military  officers  as  became  direc- 
tors, and  even  of  such  as  received  or  j)aid  out  any  of 
the  bills.  Shirley  negatived  the  person  chosen  Speaker 
of  the  Assembly  on  the  ground  that  he  was  a  director, 
and  also  thirteen  of  the  Councilors  whose  connection 
with  the  Land  Bank  was  more  or  less  close.  It  could 
not,  however,  be  suppressed.  The  majority  of  the 
people  favored  it  openly  or  secretly,  and  the  private 
corporation  threatened  to  become  more  powerful  than 
the  government  itself. 

What  saved  the  Province  in  the  crisis  was  the  in- 
tervention of  Parliament,  which,  in  consistency  with  its 
preceding  action,  now,  when  appealed  to  for  aid,  put 
down  the  new  scheme,  as  it  had  sought  to  foil  the 
calamitous  policy  which  had  gone  before.  Though 
the  Land  Bank  company  was  dissolved,  yet  the  Act  of 
Parliament  gave  the  holders  of  the  bills  a  right  to  sue 
every  partner  or  director  for  the  sums  expressed,  with 
interest.  The  company  was  in  a  maze.  If  the  bills 
had  been  issued  at  their  face  value,  no  grounds  for 
complaint  would  have  existed  that  Parliament  required 
their  redemption  at  the  same  rate.  They  had  not,  how- 
ever, been  issued  at  their  face  value ;  in  the  deprecia- 
tion that  set  in,  many  of  the  holders  of  the  bills  had 
acquired  them  for  half  the  face  value.     The  hardship 


1742]  FINANCIAL  SERVICES.  25 

upon  the  company  was  very  great,  a  fact  about  which 
Hutchinson  declares  Parliament  was  not  anxious,  the  loss 
they  sustained  being  only  a  just  penalty  for  their  un- 
warrantable proceeding.  His  contempt  for  the  folly  of 
his  contemporaries  was  unmeasured.  "  It  would  be  just 
as  rational,  when  the  blood  in  the  human  body  is  in  a 
putrid,  corrupt  state,  to  increase  the  quantity  by  lux- 
urious Hving,  in  order  to  restore  health.  Some  of  the 
leading  men  among  the  Representatives  were  debtors, 
and  a  depreciating  currency  was  convenient  for  them." 
A  way  out  was  found  at  last. 

The  capture  of  Louisburg,  though  so  noteworthy  an 
event  in  New  England  history,  requires  only  brief  men- 
tion in  a  biography  of  Hutchinson.  It  was  an  extraor- 
dinary piece  of  good  luck,  and  nothing  else.^  The 
expedition  was  undertaken  in  a  great  financial  strait, 
conducted  quite  without  skill,  and  was  embarrassed  by 
want  of  a  good  understanding  between  the  land  and 
sea  forces.  Had  one  single  thing  gone  wrong  for  the 
English  after  the  army  set  sail,  it  has  been  said,  or 
had  one  single  thing  gone  right  for  the  French,  the 
expedition  must  have  failed.  It  succeeded  triumjDhantly. 
Hutchinson  was  at  the  front  in  public  life  at  this  time. 
Returning  from  England  at  the  end  of  1741,  as  has 
been  described,  he  was  at  first  rejected  by  the  electors 
in  the  spring  of  1742 ;  but  when  presently  one  of  the 
"  Boston  seat "  was  selected  for  the  Council,  Hutchinson 
was  chosen  in  his  place.     He  was  continuously  chosen 

^  "  The  very,  very,  very  rash,  but  very,  very,  very  fortunate  expedition 
against  Cape  Breton  or  Louisburg  I  hope  may  terminate  public  paper 
currency."     Douglass  :  Summary,  etc.,  vol.  i.,  p.  314  (1755). 


26  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1748 

until  the  year  1749 ;  in  1746,  1747,  and  1748  serving 
as  Speaker.  In  1745,  he  became  unpopular  for  being 
willing  to  allow  a  French  deputation  from  Louisburg 
treating  for  an  exchange  of  prisoners,  a  certain  number 
of  wood  axes ;  he  was  accused  of  supplying  them  with 
tomahawks.  But  his  position  on  the  currency  was  the 
main  cause  of  the  public  wrath.  His  fine  place  at  Mil- 
ton,'seven  miles  from  the  city,  a  recent  purchase,  many 
thought  should  be  protected  by  a  guard  ;  and  once 
when  his  town-house  caught  fire,  there  were  cries  in  the 
street,  "  Curse  him,  let  it  burn  !  " 

The  warlike  enterprises  into  which  Shirley  had  led 
the  country  had  immensely  increased  the  public  debt. 
Bills  to  the  amount  of  between  two  and  three  million 
dollars  had  been  issued  ;  but  these  had  so  depreciated 
that  when  the  war  closed  £1100,  or  even  £1200,  were 
scarcely  equal  to  £100  sterling.  Fortunately  for  the 
Province,  its  agent  in  England  at  this  time  was  Wil- 
liam BoUan,  a  son-in-law  of  Shirley,  a  lawyer,  a  man  of 
force  and  insight.  Through  his  effective  representa- 
tions, the  English  government  was  brought  to  the  re- 
solve to  reimburse  Massachusetts  for  her  expenditures 
during  the  Louisburg  campaign.  On  land,  it  had  been 
purely  a  provincial  enterprise;  and  resulting  as  it  did 
greatly  to  the  advantage  of  England,  it  was  felt  to  be 
only  equitable  that  there  should  be  a  generous  ac- 
knowledgment. The  fact  that  at  the  peace  of  Aix-la- 
Chapelle,  in  1748,  Louisburg  was  returned  to  its  old 
possessors,  making  the  entire  effort  for  its  seizure  ut- 
terly vain,  as  far  as  the  Colonies  were  concerned,  was 
enough  to   touch  even  the  most  obtuse  sense  of  justice. 


1749]  FINANCIAL   SERVICES.  27 

Bollan  was  able  not  only  to  secure  a  reimbursement, 
but  to  get  hold  of  an  amount  equal  to  the  full  value  of 
the  money  when  issued.  Money  had  greatly  depreci- 
ated, but  the  advocate  persuaded  his  audience  that  that 
should  be  disregarded :  there  was  no  deduction  on  that 
account.  The  House  Journal  records,  under  date  April 
21,  1749  :  "  Voted,  that  his  Excellency  the  Governor, 
the  Secretary  of  the  Province,  and  the  Speaker  of  the 
House  [Hutchinson],  be  impowered,  in  the  name  and 
behalf  of  the  Province,  to  sign  and  deliver  a  proper 
deed  or  instrument,  with  the  seal  of  the  Province  there- 
unto affixed,  authorizing  and  impowering  the  Hon.  Sir 
Peter  Warren,  Kt.  of  the  Bath,  William  Bollan,  Esq., 
Agent  for  the  Province  at  the  Court  of  Great  Britain, 
and  Eliakim  Palmer,  Esq.,  of  London,  Merchant,  them 
or  any  two  of  them,  the  said  William  Bollan,  Esq.,  ex- 
cept in  case  of  his  death  always  to  be  one,  to  receive 
the  whole  and  every  part  of  the  sum  of  £183,649  2s. 
and  7d.  halfpenny  sterling,  granted  by  Parliament  to 
reimburse  the  Province  their  expenses  in  taking  and 
securing  for  his  Majesty  the  island  of  Cape  Breton  and 
its  dependencies,  and  to  give  a  full  discharge  for  the 
same."  What  followed  may  best  be  told  in  Hutchin- 
son's own  words  :  — 

"  Mr.  Hutchinson,  who  was  then  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  imagined  this  to  be  a  most 
favorable  opportunity  for  abolishing  bills  of  credit,  the 
source  of  so  much  iniquity,  and  for  establishing  a  stable 
currency  of  silver  and  gold  for  the  future.  About 
,£2,200,000  would  be  outstanding  in  bills  in  the  year 
1749.     £180,000  sterling,  at  eleven  for  one,  which  was 


28  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1749 

the  lowest  rate  of  exchange  with  London  for  a  year  or 
two  before,  and  perhaps  the  difference  was  really  twelve 
for  one,  would  redeem  £1,980,000,  which  would  leave 
but  £220,000  outstanding  ;  it  was  therefore  proposed 
that  the  sum  granted  by  Parliament  should  be  shipped 
to  the  Province  in  Spanish  milled  dollars,  and  applied 
for  the  redemption  of  the  bills  as  far  as  it  would  serve 
for  that  purpose,  and  that  the  remainder  of  the  bills 
should  be  drawn  in  by  a  tax  on  the  year  1749.  This 
would  finish  the  bills.  For  the  future,  silver,  of  sterling 
alloy,  at  six  shillings  and  eightpence  the  ounce,  if  pay- 
ment should  be  made  in  bullion ;  or  otherwise,  milled 
dollars  at  six  shillings  each,  should  be  the  lawful  money 
of  the  Province  ;  and  no  jjerson  should  receive  or  pay 
Avithin  the  Province  bills  of  credit  of  any  of  the  other 
governments  of  New  England.  This  proj^osal  being 
made  to  the  Governor,  he  approved  of  it,  as  founded  in 
justice,  and  tending  to  promote  the  real  interest  of  the 
Province  ;  but  he  knew  the  attachment  of  the  people 
to  paper  money  and  supposed  it  impracticable.  The 
Speaker,  however,  laid  the  proposal  before  the  House, 
where  it  was  received  with  a  smile."  ^ 

In  fact,  Hutchinson  was  almost  alone.  Though  the 
Governors,  the  Councils,  and  the  more  substantial 
people  generally  had  long  recognized  the  nature  of  the 
evil  from  which  for  fifty  years  the  Province  had  suf- 
fered, no  one  was  able  to  see  any  way  out  of  it.  The 
project  was  regarded  as  quite  Utopian  ;  and  rather  out 
of  deference  for  the  Speaker  than  from  a  feeling  that 
any  good  could  result,  a  committee  was  appointed  to 

1  Hist.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  391. 


1749]  FINANCIAL  SERVICES.  29 

consider  it.  By  this  committee,  as  skeptical  as  the 
House  in  general,  Hutchinson  was  nevertheless  asked 
to  prepare  a  formal  bill,  which  becoming  known,  the 
democracy  began  to  seethe.  The  large  class  of  debtors 
were  no  losers  by  a  depreciating  currency,  and  preferred 
the  paper  to  anything  more  solid.  Those  of  a  different 
mind  entertained  some  one  scheme,  some  another,  the 
more  sensible  holding  that,  even  though  Hutchinson's 
plan  might  have  merit,  the  bills  must  be  put  an  end  to 
in  a  gradual  way ;  "  a  fatal  shock  "  would  be  felt  by 
so  sudden  a  return  to  a  specie  basis.  Of  this  view  was 
Douglass,  an  anti-paper  man  who  had  written  ably,  but 
who  now  in  the  public  prints  was  energetic  against  the 
SiDeaker's  idea. 

For  a  long  time  the  fight  seemed  hopeless.  Many 
weeks  were  spent  in  debating ;  and  when  voting  began 
the  bill  was  decisively  rejected.  The  chance  to  escape 
from  bondage  seemed  irrecoverably  gone.  Unexpect- 
edly, however,  during  the  night  following  the  vote, 
conviction  overtook  some  men  of  influence.  The  clear- 
minded,  overmatched  champion  of  honest  money  must 
have  been  indeed  made  happy  when  Joseph  Livermore, 
of  Weston,  and  Samuel  Witt,  of  Marlboro,  told  him  in 
the  narrow  lobby,  next  morning,  that  there  was  still 
hope.  A  motion  to  reconsider  having  been  carried,  the 
bill  at  last,  for  a  wonder,  passed;  the  Council  and 
Governor  were  prompt  to  ratify,  and  while  the  people 
marveled,  all  was  done.  The  streets  were  full  of  angry 
men,  whose  wrath  might  at  any  time  become  danger- 
ous. The  infatuation  was  so  great,  the  wish  was  often 
expressed  that  the  ship  bringing  the  treasure  might 


30  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1749 

sink.  Many  doubted  whether  the  treasure  would  really 
be  sent,  and  this  uncertainty  perhaps  helped  the  pas- 
sage of  the  bill.  Why  oppose  a  scheme  which  of  itself 
would  fall  to  the  ground  ? 

But  the  treasure  came.  Seventeen  trucks  were  re- 
quired to  cart  from  the  ship  to  the  Treasury  two  hun- 
dred and  seventeen  chests  of  Spanish  dollars,  while  ten 
trucks  conveyed  one  hundred  casks  of  coined  copper. 
The  details  of  the  scheme  were  put  into  execution. 
Silver  bullion  at  six  shillings  and  eightpence  an  ounce, 
or  Spanish  dollars  at  six  shillings,  became  the  currency 
instead  of  paper  of  the  "  old  tenor."  The  "  new  tenor," 
and  a  dozen  more  confusing  designations,  sank  in  value 
until  sometimes  £120  of  it  were  scarcely  worth  ,£1  ster- 
ling. At  once  a  favorable  change  began ;  there  was 
no  shock  but  of  the  pleasantest  kind  ;  a  revulsion  of 
popular  feeling  followed  speedily,  until  Hutchinson, 
from  being  threatened  at  every  street  corner,  became 
a  thorough  favorite.  A  crowd  of  paper-money  men 
coming  from  Abington  to  Boston,  in  the  expectation  of 
finding  sympathy,  were  met  with  the  coldest  of  comfort. 
Massachusetts  Bay  was  on  a  solid  basis  at  last. 

Twelve  years  after  this  time,  Hutchinson  wrote  :  "  I 
think  I  may  be  allowed  to  call  myself  the  father  of  the 
present  fixed  medium."  ^  There  is  no  doubt  of  it. 
He  alone  saw  a  way  out  of  the  difficulty,  and  nothing 
but  his  tact  and  persistency  pushed  the  measure  to  suc- 
cess. Democracies  perhaps  never  appear  to  so  poor 
advantage  as  in  the  management  of  finances,  and  no 
more  conspicuous  instance  in  point  can  be  cited  than 

^  Dec.  14,  1761.     Letter  Book,  Mass.  Archives,  Historical,  vol.  xxvi. 


1749]  FINANCIAL   SERVICES.  31 

that  of  provincial  New  England  throughout  the  first 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  Assembly,  the 
members  of  which  were  usually  simply  the  mouthpieces 
of  the  towns,  surrendering  their  private  judgment  and 
submissive  to  the  "  Instructions  "  which  they  received 
at  the  time  of  their  election,  was  uniformly,  by  a  large 
majority,  in  favor  of  an  irredeemable  paper  currency. 
Before  the  enormous  evils  which  early  became  apparent 
and  constantly  grew  in  magnitude,  the  Assembly  was 
impotent.  Widows  and  orphans,  classes  dependent  on 
fixed  incomes,  were  reduced  to  distress;  creditors  found 
themselves  defrauded  of  their  just  dues  till  almost 
nothing  was  left ;  a  universal  gambling  spirit  was  pro- 
moted. The  people  saw  no  way  to  meet  the  evil  but 
by  new  and  ever  new  issues  of  the  wretched  scrip,  until, 
with  utter  callousness  of  conscience,  men  repudiated 
contracts  voluntarily  entered  upon,  and  recklessly  dis- 
counted the  resources  of  future  generations  by  shoving 
off  upon  them  the  obligations  their  own  shoulders  should 
have  borne.  The  action  of  the  Council,  meantime,  by 
which  in  a  certain  way  the  higher  class  was  represented, 
was  uniformly  more  wise  and  more  honorable  than  that 
of  the  lower  House.  The  Governors  of  provincial  JMas- 
sachusetts  were  seldom  men  of  much  mark ;  but  all  who 
held  office  during  this  period  of  distress  —  Shute,  Bel- 
lomont,  Burnett,  Belcher,  Shirley  —  had  insight  enough 
to  perceive  the  infatuation  of  the  people,  and  thwarted 
their  short-sighted  plans  by  such  means  as  they  could 
use.  It  is  especially  to  be  noted  that  King  and  Parlia- 
ment threw  their  influence  on  the  right  side,  and  sought 
repeatedly  to  save  the  purblind  people  from  themselves. 


32  THE  LIFE   OF   THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1749 

The  right  of  the  home  government  to  interfere  in  colo- 
nial affairs  was  then  never  questioned.  Massachusetts 
would  dodge,  if  she  could,  the  government  mandates ; 
but  the  theories  of  a  later  time,  with  which  we  shall 
hereafter  be  much  occupied,  that  the  Houses  at  West- 
minster had  no  jurisdiction  beyond  sea,  and  that  the 
King,  having  granted  the  charter,  had  put  it  out  of  his 
power  to  touch  the  provincial  policy,  in  these  days 
found  no  expression,  or  only  the  faintest.  The  Revo- 
lution even  now  was  preparing ;  the  Colonies  were  chaf- 
ing under  restrictions  imposed  from  beyond  the  ocean,  — 
restrictions,  in  this  case,  wise,  but  very  unwelcome.  It 
was  the  beg-inninof  of  the  Ions:  fret  which  was  to  cul- 
minate  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

In  all  this  time  of  distress,  no  figure  is  apparent  so 
marked  with  traits  of  greatness  as  that  of  Thomas 
Hutchinson.  The  Colonies  in  general  were  infected  by 
the  same  craze  as  that  which  came  so  near  to  paralyzing 
Massachusetts  ;  but  no  other  man  in  America,  while 
appreciating  rightly  the  disastrous  state  of  things,  at 
the  same  time  saw  a  way  out.  Franklin,  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, level-headed  though  he  was,  elaborately  advocated 
paper  money,^  turning  a  good  penny  in  its  manufacture, 
when  at  last  it  was  resolved  upon.  In  Massachusetts, 
the  father  of  Samuel  Adams  was  one  of  the  directors 
of  the  iniquitous  Land  Bank.  Of  hard-money  men 
even,  not  one  but  looked  askance  upon  Hutchinson's 
suggestion  as  to  the  Louisburg  indemnity,  however  f uUy 
the  mire  into  which  the  Province  was  sunk  may  have 
been  perceived.     Shirley  gave  the  plan  his  assent  only 

^  A  Modest  Inquiry  into  the  Nature  and  Necessity  of  a  Paper  Currency. 


1749]  FINANCIAL  SERVICES.  33 

grudgingly.  In  the  Council  and  the  Assembly,  it  was 
only  Hutchinson's  personal  weight  that  brought  about 
the  result.  His  proposition,  smiled  at  at  first,  then 
grumbled  over,  then  causing  such  resentment  that  its 
author  was  cursed,  and  the  hope  was  rife  that  the  ship 
bearing  the  specie  would  sink  on  the  voyage,  he  carried 
in  spite  of  all,  —  certainly  as  fine  a  feat  of  statesman- 
ship as  our  colonial  era  can  furnish.  Shirley  in  those 
days  was  brilliant  in  the  eyes  of  men,  but  the  course  of 
events  was  soon  to  show  how  little  was  left  of  him  when 
what  was  due  to  luck  was  subtracted.  Sir  William  Pep- 
perell,  too,  wore  his  baronial  honors,  and  dressed  himself 
in  gold  lace  and  velvet  for  ceremonials  and  the  portrait- 
painters,  —  the  worthy  Kittery  trader,  and  nothing 
more.  He  deserved  credit  for  the  success  of  Louisburg 
almost  as  little  as  that  other  famous  dignitary  of  the 
North  Shore,  Lord  Timothy  Dexter,  of  Newburyport, 
deserved  credit  for  his  fortunes  made  in  whalebone  and 
warming-pans.  Outside  of  New  England,  one  man, 
and  only  one  in  the  Colonies,  was  gaining  a  wide 
fame,  —  Franklin,  in  Pennsylvania.  He,  however,  was 
only  on  the  threshold  of  his  great  career,  and  it  may 
be  truthfully  said  was  stumbling  badly  in  his  start, 
advocate  and  manufacturer  as  he  was  of  irredeemable 
paper.  The  great  leading  colony,  Massachusetts  Bay,  — 
at  that  time,  it  must  be  remembered,  comprehending 
Maine,  and  so  territorially  of  vast  extent,  —  the  leading 
colony,  too,  in  the  numbers,  the  character,  and  the  in- 
telligence of  its  inhabitants,  possessed  a  son  who,  judg- 
ing even  by  the  standards  of  to-day,  may  be  called  a 
statesman   of  high   rank ;  —  a  man  of  power,  moving, 


34  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1749 

too,  in  no   confined   sphere,  tliongh  it  was  as  yet  un- 
cleared of  forests  and  peopled  only  by  pioneers. 

What  economic  views  Hutchinson  had  in  other  direc- 
tions than  in  finance  are  hinted  at  in  the  conclusion  to 
the  second  volume  of  his  History,  —  words  penned  at 
a  time  now  close  at  hand ;  words  breathing  a  spirit  of 
calm  wisdom  and  humanity.  "  The  great  Creator  of  the 
Universe,  in  infinite  wisdom,  has  so  formed  the  earth 
that  different  parts  of  it,  from  the  soil,  climate,  etc., 
are  adapted  to  different  produce ;  and  He  so  orders  and 
disposes  the  genius,  temper,  numbers,  and  other  circum- 
stances relative  to  the  inhabitants  as  to  render  some 
employments  peculiarly  proper  for  one  country,  and 
others  for  another,  and  by  this  provision  a  mutual  inter- 
course is  kept  u\)  between  the  different  parts  of  the 
globe.  It  would  be  a  folly  in  a  Virginian  to  attempt  a 
plantation  of  rice  for  the  sake  of  having  all  he  con- 
sumes from  the  produce  of  his  own  labor,  when  South 
Carolina,  by  nature,  is  peculiarly  designed  for  rice,  and 
capable  of  supplying  one  half  the  world.  Old  coun- 
tries, stocked  with  people,  are  ordinarily  best  adapted 
to  manufactures.  Would  it  be  the  interest  of  New 
England,  whilst  thin  of  people,  to  turn  their  attention 
from  the  whale,  cod,  mackerel,  and  herring  fishery, 
their  lumber-trade  and  shipbuilding,  which  require  but 
few  hands  compared  with  many  other  sorts  of  business, 
to  such  manufactures  as  are  now  imported  from  Great 
Britain ;  or  to  take  their  sons  from  clearing  the  land, 
and  turning  an  uncultivated  Avilderness  into  pleasant 
and  profitable  fields,  and  set  them  to  spinning,  weav- 
ing, and  the  like    employments?     I    do   not  mean  to 


1749]  FINANCIAL   SERVICES.  35 

discourage  any  persons,  who  cannot  improve  their  time 
to  greater  advantage,  from  employing  themselves  and 
famihes  in  any  branch  of  manufacture  whatsoever. 
Idleness  is  the  certain  parent  of  vice.  Industry,  intro- 
duced, will  ordinarily  tend  to  produce  a  change  of  man- 
ners. A  general  philanthropy  will  induce  us  to  delight 
in  and  contribute  to  the  happiness  of  every  part  of  the 
human  race,  by  which  Ave  ourselves  are  no  sufPerers ; 
the  state  from  whence  we  sprang,  and  upon  which  we 
still  depend  for  j)rotection,  may  justly  expect  to  be  dis- 
tinguished by  us,  and  that  we  should  delight  in,  and 
contribute  to,  its  prosperity  beyond  aU  other  parts  of 
the  globe." 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    CHIEF   JUSTICESHIP. 

Hutchinson  begins  the  third  vohime  of  his  History 
with  the  remark  that  the  people  of  Massachusetts  Bay 
were  never  more  easy  and  happy  than  in  1749,  when, 
through  the  application  of  the  Louisburg  reimburse- 
ment to  the  extinction  of  the  irredeemable  bills,  the 
currency  was  in  an  excellent  condition.  It  may  be 
claimed  that  he  himself  was  the  main  cause  of  this 
prosperity.  He  failed  of  reelection  in  the  spring  of 
1749  by  a  large  majority,  the  Assembly  thus  losing 
permanently  its  most  eloquent  and  influential  member.^ 
His  unpopularity,  however,  was  short-lived.  He  aj)- 
peared  at  once  in  the  Council,  and  remained  in  his  new 
sphere  no  less  than  before  the  guiding  spirit  in  public 
affahs.  He  was  indeed  watchful  for  the  welfare  of  the 
people  in  matters  large  and  small.  In  1747,  Boston 
had  been  in  a  tumult  over  a  press-gang  let  loose  in  the 
streets  by  the  Commodore  of  a  squadron  of  men-of-war 
then  in  harbor.  Hutchinson,  who,  in  a  quite  remark- 
able way,  was  usually  on  the  ground  in  times  of  trouble, 
saved  from  the  mob  a  Lieutenant  of  the  fleet  who  was 
innocent  in  the  transaction  ;  then,  as  Speaker,  drew  up 
resolutions.  These,  while  favoring  law  and  order,  jDrom- 
ised  that  "  this  House  will  exert  themselves  by  all  ways 

1  Eliot  :  N.  E.  Biog.  Diet.,  art.  "  Hutchiusou." 


1750]  THE  CHIEF  JUSTICESHIP.  37 

and  means  possible  in  redressing  such  grievances  as  his 
Majesty's  subjects  are  and  have  been  under,"  protest- 
ing- thus  against  impressment  as  an  outrage.  By  1750, 
"  he  was  praised  as  much  for  his  ^  firm,'  as  he  had 
before  been  abused  for  his  '  obstinate,'  perseverance." 
He  was  made  chairman  of  a  commission  to  negotiate  a 
treaty  with  the  Indians  at  Casco  Bay. 

As  the  Province  increased  in  population,  the  settle- 
ment of  its  boundaries,  which  so  far  had  been  only 
vaguely  drawn,  became  a  matter  of  increasing  impor- 
tance. Ten  years  before,  he  had  been  concerned  in 
the  settlement  of  the  line  on  the  New  Hampshire  side. 
Now,  he  was  set  to  treat  as  to  the  frontier  with  Con- 
necticut commissioners ;  and,  apropos  of  some  effort  at 
sharp  practice  on  their  part,  he  makes  in  the  History 
this  oeneral  observation :  "  Communities  or  bodies  of 
men  are  capable  jointly  of  such  acts  as,  being  the  act 
of  any  one  member  separately,  would  cause  him  to  be 
ashamed."  A  year  or  two  later,  the  Council  Records 
speak  of  him  as  settling  the  Rhode  Island  border.  He 
must  have  done  such  work  AveU,  for  at  a  later  time, 
though  quite  broken  in  the  esteem  of  his  countrymen, 
only  he  could  be  trusted  to  settle  the  delicate  question 
of  the  boundary  on  the  west  toward  New  York.  In 
fact,  in  important  public  business  his  name  now  is  never 
absent.  In  1752,  he  was  appointed  Judge  of  Probate 
and  Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas  for  the  County  of 
Suffolk,  in  place  of  an  uncle,  just  dead,  who  had  filled 
those  positions.  In  the  spring  of  1754,  he  lost  his 
wife.  "  With  her  dying  voice  and  eyes  fixed  on  him, 
she  uttered  these  words,  '  Best  of  husbands  ! '  "  ^     He 

^  Autobiography. 


38  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1754 

loved  lier  tenderly,  twenty  years  later  taking  thought 
for  her  grave,  as  we  shall  see,  in  the  midst  of  melan- 
choly circumstances.  Three  sons,  Thomas,  Elisha,  and 
William  ("Billy"),  and  two  daughters,  Sarah  and  Mar- 
garet ("  Peggy  "),  formed  his  family,  with  all  of  whom 
the  student  of  his  papers  becomes  well  acquainted. 

Hutchinson  was  not  turned  from  the  public  service 
by  his  private  griefs.  The  French  were  trying  to  win 
to  their  side  the  Six  Nations,  and  principally  for  the 
sake  of  circumventing  their  designs  a  convention  of 
the  Colonies,  in  1754,  was  held  at  Albany.  Questions 
as  to  raising  men  and  money  were  to  be  settled,  and  a 
union  to  be  devised,  if  possible,  so  far  as  was  necessary 
for  defense.  Nearly  all  the  Colonies  were  represented. 
No  assembly  so  deserving  of  respect,  looking  at  the 
character  of  the  delegates  and  the  purpose  in  view,  had 
ever  before  taken  place  in  America.  Massachusetts 
sent  five  deputies,  at  the  head  of  whom  was  Hutchin- 
son ;  and  he  and  Benjamin  Franklin,  of  Pennsylvania, 
were  the  leading  minds  of  the  body.  To  these  two 
the  preparation  of  the  important  papers  was  confided,  the 
sketch  of  a  plan  for  a  colonial  union,  and  a  representa- 
tion of  the  state  of  the  Colonies.  Hutchinson,  who  had 
the  latter  task,  sought  to  show  that  the  French  de- 
sio-ned  to  drive  the  Eng-lish  into  the  sea.  How  best  to 
prevent  this  was  Franklin's  theme ;  he  presented  a 
scheme  for  union,  devised  probably  before  he  left 
Philadelphia,  which  has  always  had  great  interest  as  a 
forecast  of  what  was  to  come.  Hutchinson  and  Frank- 
lin no  doubt  came  together  with  tliorough  cordiality, 
though  one  imagines  their  differing  views  on  the  great 


1754]  THE   CHIEF  JUSTICESHIP.  39 

question  of  finance  may  have  given  grounds  for  dispute. 
With  the  power  for  fair  and  clear  statement  which  he 
so  constantly  shows  in  his  Letters  and  History,  the  Mas- 
sachusetts statesman  details  the  suggestion  of  his  col- 
league, which  he  does  not  seem  at  all  to  disapprove, 
tliouoh  it  found  favor  neither  in  America  nor  Enoland. 
In  each  Colony,  the  Assembly  was  to  elect  delegates, 
to  serve  for  a  term  of  three  years,  in  a  general  con- 
vention, over  which  a  crown-appointed  official  was  to 
preside,  possessing  a  negative  on  all  acts.  Matters  of 
general  interest,  but  in  especial,  defense  against  the 
French,  were  to  be  considered.  Hutchinson  says  that 
Franklin  favored  a  more  intimate  union  with  Ensfland 
through  the  admission  to  Parhament  of  American  rep- 
resentatives, with  rej^eal  at  the  same  tune  of  all  former 
acts  restraining  trade  and  manufactures,  so  that  the  col- 
onists could  stand  on  the  same  footing  with  the  men  of 
Great  Britain.  He  did  not  suppose  the  Colonies  could 
have  enough  representatives  to  have  great  weight  by 
their  numbers,  but  thought  enough  might  be  admitted 
"to  cause  the  laws  to  be  better  and  more  impartially 
considered."  The  Colonies  were  to  be,  as  it  were,  so 
many  counties  gained  to  Great  Britain,  and  all  to  be 
included  within  the  British  empire.  Franklin's  plan  is  a 
most  interesting  one,  and  in  the  early  agitations  of  the 
Revolution  engaged  the  serious  thought  of  many  leaders 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  In  particidar,  it  was 
entertained  by  James  Otis,  whose  appearance  on  the 
stage  we  are  about  to  note.  That  Hutchinson  ever  re- 
garded it  as  feasible  nowhere  appears.  He  describes  it 
merely,  and  notes  the  inconsistency  of  Frankhn,  whose 


40  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1755 

ground  fifteen  years  later  was  that  Britain  and  the 
Colonies  were  under  separate  legislatures,  but  one  sov- 
ereign, —  "  related  to  one  another  as  were  England  and 
Scotland  before  the  Union."  Franklin  was  not  to  blame 
for  the  change  ;  for,  though  at  first  by  no  means  im- 
possible of  fulfillment,  such  a  plan  as  his  became  at  last 
quite  impracticable.  When  the  powerful  influence  of 
Samuel  Adams  began  to  make  itself  felt,  independence 
was  the  only  cry.  In  the  British  empire,  however,  the 
idea  has  never  ceased  to  be  entertained.  The  federa- 
tion of  mother  land  and  dependencies  at  the  present 
moment  is  in  the  thought  of  millions,  and  the  lines 
upon  which  it  is  to  be  effected,  if  ever,  are  likely  to  be 
substantially  the  same  as  were  laid  down  by  Franklin 
and  James  Otis  one  hundred  and  forty  years  ago. 

Braddock's  defeat  made  the  year  1755  a  dark  one  in 
America.  Shirley's  son  was  shot  through  the  head 
there,  an  incident  which,  probably  more  than  any  other, 
brought  the  disaster  home  to  Boston.  A  certain  young 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Gage,  with  young  Colonel  Washing- 
ton, of  Virginia,  were  active  in  the  retreat,  —  men  whom 
Boston  was  to  know  well  at  a  later  time.  In  1755,  too, 
came  the  deportation  of  the  Acadian  jDcasants,  a  measure 
for  which  excuse  may  be  made.  The  pursuits  of  Grand 
Pre  and  its  fellow  villages  were  by  no  means  purely 
idyllic.  In  the  struggle  to  the  death  in  which  France 
and  England  in  America  were  locked,  it  was  not  at  all 
safe  to  overlook  the  fact  that  in  the  northeast  lay  a 
considerable  population  ever  ready  to  strilie  hands  with 
the  Indians  in  merciless  raids  upon  the  English  frontier. 
Of  nearly  seven  thousand  French  who  were  driven  off, 


175G]  THE   CHIEF  JUSTICESHIP.  41 

about  one  thousand  were  brought  to  Boston,  arriving 
at  the  beginning  of  winter,  as  unexpected  as  undesired. 
Hutchinson,  though  never  a  soldier,  believed  in  stout 
fighting ;  and  the  year  before  at  Albany  had  made  a 
most  useful  suggestion,  —  that  the  commander  near 
Crown  Point  should  be  Sir  William  Johnson,  a  sugges- 
tion which  resulted  in  the  defeat  of  Dieskau.  Toward 
enemies  in  distress  and  powerless,  however,  his  heart 
was  tender;  and  he  took  the  lead  in  Boston  toward 
relievino;  the  trouble  of  the  forlorn  exiles  so  uncere- 
moniously  thrust  upon  the  town.  "  It  was  the  hardest 
case  since  our  Saviour  was  on  earth."  ^  No  one  was 
more  active  than  he  in  their  behalf.  He  prepared  a 
representation  for  them,  to  be  laid  before  the  English 
government,  which  was  to  be  signed  by  their  principal 
men,  praying  that  they  might  either  be  allowed  to  return 
or  receive  compensation.  This  he  ofPered  to  put  into 
trusty  hands  for  them.  The  Acadians  were  thankful 
and  took  the  paper  to  consider,  but  returned  it  un- 
signed. They  feared  they  should  lose  the  favor  of 
France  if  they  should  receive,  or  even  solicit,  help  from 
England.  They  preferred  to  wait,  believing  France 
would  never  make  peace  until  they  were  restored.  It 
was  certainly  due  to  Hutchinson's  tolerant  spirit  also 
that,  in  the  midst  of  the  Puritan  community,  the  cap- 
tives were  permitted  among  themselves  to  practice  their 
Catholic  faith. 

In  1756,  Shirley  went  to  England,  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  Spencer  Phips,  an  old  and  decrepit  man, 
acting  in  his  place.      In  indirect    ways,   the   adminis- 

^  Hutchinson  :  Hist.,  iii.  40. 


42  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1757 

tration  of  the  Province  was  largely  in  the  hands  of 
Hutchinson,  whose  appointment  to  the  chief  place  was 
expected  by  many.  As  Shirley  retires,  Hutchinson,  in 
his  History,  speaks  of  him  depreciatingly,  but  not 
meanly  so.  Shirley  had  strong  military  ambition,  and 
was  at  first  much  favored  by  fortune.  When  fairly 
tried,  however,  he  failed,  and  withdrew  disappointed. 
He  was  never  accused  of  want  of  fidehty,  and  embar- 
rassed himself  by  his  outlays  in  the  public  service. 
Hutchinson's  time  had  not  yet  come,  and  into  Shii'ley's 
shoes  stejjped  Thomas  Pownall,  whose  brother,  John 
Pownall,  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  became  in 
after  years  Hutchinson's  frequent  correspondent.  With 
the  Governor,  Hutchinson's  relations  were  never  quite 
cordial.  PownaU  was  a  politician  of  Chatham's  school, 
who,  after  his  ser\dce  in  America  (during  which,  from 
secretary  to  Osborne,  Governor  of  New  York,  he  be- 
came Governor  of  Massachusetts,  and  afterwards  of 
South  Carolina),  returned  to  England,  and  vigorously 
seconded  his  great  leader  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
The  handsome  portrait  of  Pownall  in  the  possession  of 
the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  shows  a  bright 
face  above  a  figure  elegant  and  richly  attired.  His 
tastes,  however,  were  simple ;  he  was  easy  and  informal 
in  his  ways ;  and  "  would  sometimes  sit  in  the  chair 
without  a  sword,  in  a  plain  short  frock,  unruffled  shirt, 
with  a  scratch-wiof  and  a  little  rattan."  Such  a  nesrlect 
of  ceremony  was  not  at  aU  to  Hutchinson's  mind,  who 
beheved  in  a  certain  stateliness  for  men  of  high  posi- 
tion. Pownall's  ideas,  too,  were  not  those  of  Hutchin- 
son, who  had  now  settled  definitely  into  the  "  preroga- 


1757]  THE   CHIEF  JUSTICESHIP.  43 

tive "  notions  which  he  was  soon  to  be  called  on  to 
defend  to  the  uttermost.  When  Dan  vers  desired  to  be- 
come a  toAvn,  sending  representatives  to  the  Assembly, 
Hutchinson,  in  the  Council,  opposed  it,  on  grounds 
partly  technical,  but  also  because  the  number  in  the 
House  was  already  too  large.  The  democracy  ought 
not  to  weigh  down  the  Governor  and  Council.  Lou- 
doun, the  British  commander-in-chief,  having  demanded 
quarters  for  a  regiment  in  Boston  on  the  strength  of 
an  Act  of  Parliament,  the  General  Court  refused  the 
demand,  when  so  urged,  declaring  that  the  Act  did  not 
apply  to  them  ;  then  straightway  passed  an  Act  of  their 
own  making  the  required  provision.  Loudoun  w^as 
testy ;  and  the  General  Coiu't,  anxious  to  preserve  the 
peace,  drew  up  an  expression  "  which  created  embar- 
rassment in  later  tunes.  The  authority  of  all  Acts  of 
Parliament  which  conceiii  the  Colonies  and  extend  to 
them  is  ever  acknowledsfed  in  all  the  courts  of  law  and 
made  the  rule  of  all  judicial  proceedings  in  the  Prov- 
ince. There  is  not  a  member  of  the  General  Court, 
and  we  know  no  inhabitant  wdthin  the  bounds  of  the 
government,  that  ever  questioned  this  authority.  To 
prevent  any  ill  consequences  which  may  arise  from  an 
opinion  of  our  holding  such  principles,  we  now  utterly 
disavow  them,  as  w^e  should  readily  have  done  at  any 
time  past  if  there  had  been  occasion  for  it."  Though 
Hutchinson  himself  formulated  this,  he  insists  that  in 
1757  these  were  the  habitual  and  well-considered  senti- 
ments of  the  legislators.  The  authority  of  the  Parha- 
ment  was  unanimously  admitted,  the  point  disputed  in 
the  present  case  being  that  the  Act  cited  by  Loudoun 


44  THE  LIFE   OF   THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1760 

was  not  intended  to  apply  to  America.  Had  the  in- 
tention been  different,  Massachusetts  would  have  sub- 
mitted. From  this  position,  Hutchinson  never  varied ; 
but  the  hour  was  now  not  far  off  when  the  Province 
was  to  abandon  it. 

In  1758,  Hutchinson  became  Lieutenant-Governor, 
resigning  then  his  justiceship  of  the  Common  Pleas, 
which  was  taken  by  his  brother  Foster ;  and  in  1760, 
when  Pownall  departed  for  the  South,  Hutchinson 
for  a  brief  space  was  supreme  magistrate.  The  hearts 
of  men  at  this  tune  were  full  of  hope  and  vigor.  The 
excellent  financial  condition  produced  by  Hutchinson's 
measure  ten  years  previous  had  continued,  and  was 
now  made  even  better  than  before.  Quebec  had 
fallen ;  and  the  mother  country,  made  generous  by 
success,  sent  over  in  gratefid  mood  such  reimburse- 
ments to  the  Colonies  for  the  share  they  had  taken  in 
causinor  the  brilliant  result  that  the  taxes  became  a  bur- 
den  of  the  lightest.  Aside  from  this  prosperity,  the 
fact  that  the  incubus  was  removed  which  had  op- 
pressed the  Colony  from  its  first  settlement  —  the 
pressure  of  the  aggressive  French  on  the  north  — 
imparted  a  confident  buoyancy  which  became  aj^parent 
at  once. 

Hutchinson,  who  coidd  never  feel  cordially  toward 
men  of  Pownall' s  ways  and  princijDles,  saw  in  Francis 
Bernard,  his  successor,  who  was  an  English  country 
gentleman,  well  educated,  of  refined  tastes  and  conser- 
vative ideas,  a  character  much  more  to  his  mind.  The 
Province  received  Bernard  cordially  ;  Pownall  had  been 
much  Hked,  and  all  hoped  as  much  from  the  new  man. 


1760]  THE  CHIEF  JUSTICESHIP.  45 

The  General  Court  addressed  him  in  a  loyal  spirit,  but 
at  the  same  time  allowed  it  to  appear  that  they  were 
well  aware  of  the  service  they  had  rendered  and  of  its 
value  to  the  British  empire.  Bernard  having  in  his 
speech  to  the  Assembly  referred  to  the  benefits  derived 
by  the  Colonies  from  their  subjection  to  Great  Britain, 
the  Council  were  careful  in  their  address  to  substitute 
relation  for  subjection,  while  acknowledging  it  was  to 
that  relation  they  owed  their  freedom.  The  House, 
while  not  scrupling  to  acknowledge  their  subjection, 
hastened  to  explain  it  thus :  "  They  are  sensible  of  the 
blessings  derived  to  the  British  Colonies  from  their  sub- 
jection to  Great  Britain ;  and  the  whole  world  must  be 
sensible  of  the  blessings  derived  to  Great  Britain  from 
the  loyalty  of  the  Colonies  in  general,  and  from  the 
efforts  of  this  Colony  in  particular,  which  for  more  than 
a  century  past  has  been  wading  in  blood  and  laden 
with  the  expenses  of  repelling  the  common  enemy, 
without  which  efforts  Great  Britain  at  this  day  might 
have  had  no  Colonies  to  defend."  ^  The  spirit  of  the 
Pro\dnce  was  high,  but  certainly  now  no  voice  would 
have  been  raised  against  the  declaration  of  a  year  or 
two  before  :  "  Our  dependence  upon  the  Parhament  of 
Great  Britain  we  never  had  a  desire  or  thought  of  less- 
ening." Says  Hutchinson  :  "  An  empire  distinct  from^ 
Britain  no  man  then  alive  expected  or  desired  to  see. 
From  the  common  increase  of  inhabitants  ...  in  dis- 
tant ages,  an  independent  empire  would  probably  be 
formed.  This  was  the  language  of  that  day."  The 
Colonies  claimed  territory  through  to  the  Pacific,  the 

^  Hutchiiison  :  Hist.,  iii.  83. 


46  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1760 

filling  of  which  with  j)eople,  now  that  the  French  were 
broken,  might  at  once  go  forward,  making  it  inevitable 
that  the  mother  country  would  soon  be  surpassed  in 
wealth  and  importance.  Feeling  this  pride  and  confi- 
dence in  themselves,  they  naturally,  says  Hutchinson 
with  candor,  looked  invidiously  at  advantages  enjoyed 
by  people  in  England  over  those  in  America.^ 

In  September,  1760,  Chief  Justice  Sewall  died,  and 
the  question  as  to  a  successor  became  important  at 
once.  Hutchinson  tells  the  story  of  the  appointment 
both  in  the  History  and  Autobiography,  and  as  the 
matter  proved  momentous,  it  is  proper  to  use  detail. 
The  morning  after  Sewall's  death,  Hutchinson  was  met 
in  the  street  by  Jeremiah  Gridley,  the  first  lawyer  of 
the  Province,  who  told  him  he  must  be  the  successor 
of  Sewall.  Other  principal  lawyers  also  pressed  the 
matter,  together  with  the  senior  surviving  judge  of 
the  Superior  Court  and  two  others  of  the  same  bench. 
The  position  was  attractive  to  Hutchinson,  though  he 
distrusted  his  ability  to  fill  it,  since  he  had  had  no  syste- 
matic legal  education.  In  those  days  the  law  was  much 
less  definitely  a  profession  than  it  has  since  become. 
Hutchinson,  quite  without  previous  training,  had  filled 
satisfactorily  the  positions  of  judge  of  Probate  and  of 
the  Common  Pleas,  his  industry  and  quickness  helping 
him  readily  to  the  necessary  knowledge.  His  most 
capable  contemporaries  saw  no  bar  to  his  undertaking 
the  chief  judicial  functions,  and  easily  made  him  feel 
it  would  be  safe  for  him  to  accept  the  post,  if  offered." 

^  Hutchinson  :  Hist.,  iii.  G8,  69. 

^  Gordon's  account  is  quite  different.     He  says  Hutchinson  hurried  to 
Bernard  and  begged  for  the  appointment,  "  by  which  he  gratified  both  his 


1760]  THE  CHIEF  JUSTICESHIP.  47 

A  day  or  two  after,  Hutcliinson  had  a  call  from  a  vig- 
orous young  lawyer  destined  soon  to  great  distinction, 
James  Otis,  Jr.,  a  native  of  Barnstable,  afterwards 
settled  in  Plymouth,  and  now  making  his  way  in  Bos- 
ton. Otis  supposed  that  Lynde,  already  a  member  of 
the  Superior  Court,  would  be  appointed ;  and  came  to 
beo'  the  influence  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor  with  Ber- 
nard  that  his  father,  James  Otis,  Sr.,  then  Speaker  of 
the  Assembly,  who  claimed  to  have  been  encouraged 
by  Shirley  to  expect  at  some  time  such  a  position, 
might  be  put  in  the  place  of  the  promoted  Lynde.  The 
younger  Otis  in  a  friendly  way  told  Hutchinson,  if  he 
himself  had  any  thought  of  the  place  of  Chief  Justice, 
he  would  not  say  a  Avord  as  to  his  father.  Hutcliinson 
says  he  did  not  conceal  the  fact  that  the  matter  was 
in  his  mind,  but  declared  he  was  undetermined  as  to 
whether  or  not  he  should  accept  the  place  if  offered. 
So  the  interview  ended,  and  in  the  weeks  that  followed 
the  Otises,  both  son  and  father,  pressed  zealously  for 
the  appointment  of  the  latter.  A  month  passed,  when 
Bernard  informed  his  lieutenant  he  had  been  urged  by 
many  persons  to  appoint  him,  Hutchinson  asserts  that 
he  refrained  from  all  solicitation.  On  the  contrary,  he 
warned  the  Governor  of  trouble  hkely  to  come  in  case 
the  Otises  were  disappointed.  Bernard,  however,  ran 
the  risk  of  this,  declared  he  would  in  no  case  appoint 
Otis,  and  presently  named  Hutchinson,  who  says  he  had 
reason  to  feel,  though  not  of  the  profession,  that  the 
lawyers  in  general  were  pleased. 

ambition  and  covetousness,  his  two  ruling  passions."  Hist.  Am.  Rev., 
i.  141.     This  certainly  is  a  misrepresentation. 


48  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1760 

So  far,  probably,  we  may  trust  Hutchinson's  account. 
What  follows  in  his  story  is  more  doubtful.  At  once, 
he  says,  the  younger  Otis  vowed  revenge,  a  threat 
which  he  soon  after  proceeded  to  execute  by  embarrass- 
ing Bernard,  including  the  new  Chief  Justice  also  in 
his  enmity.  Though  before  friends  to  government,  the 
Otises  now  became  its  opposers ;  and  as  the  younger 
man  presently  developed  power  as  an  unequaled  popu- 
lar leader,  he  became  a  most  dangerous  foe.  "  From 
so  small  a  spark,"  exclaims  Hutchinson,  "  a  great  fire 
seems  to  have  been  kindled."  ^ 

To  attribute  thus  the  position  which  James  Otis 
presently  after  assumed  entirely  to  chagrin  over  a  per- 
sonal grievance  is  what  no  one  at  this  day  can  admit. 
He  was  often  violent  and  eccentric,  guilty  of  conduct 
almost  intolerable,  according  to  the  testimony  of  men  of 
all  parties.  The  morbid  taint,  which  before  the  flash 
of  lightning  took  his  life  was  to  reduce  hun  to  imbecility, 
early  began  its  ravages.      His  endowments,  however, 

'  "April  29,  1779,"  says  Eliot  (N.  E.  Blog.  Diet,  art.  "Hutchinson"), 
speaking  of  an  old  judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  "  I  passed  the  afternoon 
at  Cambridge  with  venerable  Judge  Trowbridge,  who  said,  after  a 
solemn  pause  :    '  It  was  a  most  unhappy  thing  that   Mr.  H.   was  ever 

Chief  Justice  of  our  Court.     What  O said,  "  that  he  would  set  the 

Province  in  flames,  if  he  perished  by  the  fire,"  has  come  to  pass.  He, 
poor  man  !  suffers  ;  and  what  are  we  coming  to  ?  I  thouglit  little  of  it 
at  the  time.  I  made  every  exertion  in  favor  of  Mr.  H.,  and  think  now 
he  was  the  best  man  to  be  there,  if  the  people  had  been  satisfied,  and  he 
had  never  looked  beyond  it.  But  I  now  think  it  was  unhappy  for  us  all. 
And  I  freely  believe  this  war  would  have  been  put  off  many  years,  if 
Governor  H.  had  not  been  made  Chief  Justice.'  He  spoke  "  (says  Eliot) 
"  of  H.  as  a  man  of  great  abilities,  who  could  fit  himself  in  a  very  little 
time  for  any  business  ;  and  told  likewise  how  their  friendship  was  broken 
off,  which  manifested  that  Governor  H.  could  be  guilty  of  mean  resent- 
ment and  sordid  ingratitude." 


1760]  THE  CHIEF  JUSTICESHIP.  49 

were  imperial.  Both  in  his  strength  and  in  his  weak- 
ness, he  bore  resemblance  to  Chatham,  with  whom  he  has 
been  rightly  compared.  In  eloquence,  he  did  not  fall 
behind  the  lofty  earl.  His  voice  in  those  days  seemed 
unimportant  as  compared  with  the  tones  that  filled  the 
historic  spaces  of  St.  Stephen's  Chapel ;  but  it  was  the 
Tyrtsean  note  which  nerved  America,  as  she  marched 
out  to  those  early  conflicts,  —  conflicts  through  which 
she  was  to  pass  to  an  unparalleled  supremacy.  In 
height  of  soul,  few  statesmen  have  surpassed  him,  as  all 
must  feel  who  ponder  the  few  fragmentary  harangues 
which  are  all  that  have  been  transmitted  from  him. 
Strange  power  of  partisan  bitterness  that  could  blunt 
the  perceptions  of  a  man  like  Hutchinson  till  he  mis- 
judged him  to  be  only  self-seeking  and  crazily  voluble  ! 
Henceforth  the  two  men  are  to  have  no  feelings  for  each 
other  but  dread  and  hatred.  Just  as  the  Chief  Justice 
enters  upon  his  new  duties  at  the  end  of  1760,  George 
III.  is  proclaimed  King.  As  if  a  beU  had  struck,  an 
agitation  begins  in  which  the  two  men,  now  at  odds,  are 
at  first  the  conspicuous  figures,  —  an  agitation  destined 
before  it  closed  to  afFect  most  profoundly  the  history 
of  the  whole  future  human  race. 

The  fall  of  Quebec  in  1759  was  a  crisis  of  great  im- 
'portance  in  the  history  of  America,  and  in  the  career  of 
Hutchinson  as  well.  With  the  event  itself,  he  was  not 
unconnected.  In  the  interval  of  a  summer  between 
the  going  out  of  Shirley  and  the  coming  in  of  Pownall, 
Hutchinson  as  Lieutenant-Governor  was  chief  magis- 
trate, and  sent  three  hundred  men  to  serve  as  pioneers 
under  WoKe.     But  it  was  not  until  Wolfe  had  done 


50  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1760 

his  work,  and  its  far-reaching  consequences  began  to 
become  apparent,  that  its  significant  relations  to  the 
story  we  are  considering  were  perceived.  The  issue  of 
the  Seven  Years'  War,  triumphant  for  England  in 
India,  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  in  America,  to- 
gether with  much  glory  brought  to  England  a  great 
burden  of  responsibility  and  debt.  Ministers,  energetic 
and  sharp-eyed,  though  deficient  in  tact,  casting  about 
for  means  to  meet  the  emergency,  determined  upon  a 
vigorous  enforcement  of  old  customs  enactments  which, 
as  far  as  America  was  concerned,  had  been  a  dead  let- 
ter, though  long  inscribed  upon  the  statute-books. 
Since  the  time  of  the  English  Commonwealth,  the 
Navigation  Laws  ^  had  been  in  existence.  The  Rump 
and  Council  of  State  of  that  day,  with  Young  Sir 
Henry  Vane  as  leader,  in  a  certain  way  a  Massachu- 
setts worthy,  had  passed  these  acts  to  restrain  the 
Dutch,  at  that  time  active  in  the  Stuart  interest ;  and 
out  of  them  largely  grew  the  great  sea  war,  in  which 
the  conspicuous  figures  on  the  two  sides  were  Blake  and 
Van  Tromp.  The  laws  remained  unrepealed  when  the 
Stuarts  came  back ;  and  now  in  the  Hanoverian  days, 
as  venerable  long-unused  instruments,  were  conveniently 
at  hand  for  service.  More  important,  however,  than 
sijhese,  the  "  Sugar  Act "  of  1733  unposed  a  duty  of 
liaispence  a  gallon  on  foreign  molasses,  the  idea  of  Par- 
Indiient  at  the  time  being  to  protect  the  English  West 
neigh L  planters,  exposed  to  the  sharp  competition  of  their 
had  gcSors  of  the  French  islands.  In  administration,  all 
ne  loosely.     The  dust-covered  regulations  of  the 

^  Edward  Channing  :  Navigation  Laws. 


1760]  THE  CHIEF  JUSTICESHIP.  51 

century  before  had  been  known  only  to  legal  antiqua- 
rians here  and  there  ;  the  Sugar  Act  was  nearer  at 
hand,  but  had  never  been  enforced.  From  a  legal 
point  of  view,  the  immense  commercial  activity  of  New 
England  was  for  the  most  part  illicit.  In  serene  igno- 
rance of  the  statute-books,  the  Yankee  sailors  pene- 
trated all  harbors,  conveying  in  their  holds  from  the 
ports  where  they  belonged  various  sorts  of  interdicted 
merchandise,  and  bringing  home  cargoes  equally  inter- 
dicted from  all  the  ports  they  touched.  The  merchants, 
who  since  1749,  through  Hutchinson's  excellent  states- 
manship, had  been  free  from  the  embarrassment  of  a 
bad  currency,  greatly  throve.  The  shipyards  teemed 
with  fleets  ;  each  nook  of  the  coast  was  the  seat  of 
mercantile  ventures  ;  in  all  the  shore  towns  the  fine 
mansions  of  the  traders,  in  that  buff  and  square  comeli- 
ness which,  under  the  name  of  "  colonial,"  the  archi- 
tects of  to-day  take  pleasure  in  reproducing,  rose  along 
the  main  streets.  Within  the  houses,  bric-a-brac  from 
every  clime  came  to  abound.  The  merchants  and  their 
wives  and  children,  clothed  gayly  in  fabrics  of  fantastic 
names  ^  from  remote  regions,  went  to  and  fro,  sitting 
sometimes  for  then-  portraits  to  Smibert,  or  Stuart,  or 
Copley,  thus  transmitting  to  us  an  idea  of  the  purple 
and  flowered  state  which  was  becomino"  common.  Glow- 
ing  reports  of  the  gayety  and  luxury  of  the  Colonies 
reached  the  mother  country.^  The  efflorescence  and 
the    substantial    wealth    which    formed    the    soil   from 

^  See   the   extraordinary   list   in   Alice    Morse    Earle's    Customs  and 
Fashions  in  Old  New  England,  p.  329. 

2  Gordon  :  Hist,  of  the  American  War,  vol.  i.,  p.  157,  London,  1788. 


52  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1761. 

which  it  sprang  were  in  great  part  of  contraband 
origin.  The  merchants  and  sailors  were  to  a  man  law- 
breakers ;  and  this  universal  lawbreaking  it  was  which, 
after  the  fall  of  Quebec,  the  EngHsh  ministry,  hard 
put  to  it  for  means  to  administer  the  widely  extended 
British  empire,  undertook  to  stop.  The  custom-houses 
were  to  be  something  more  than  cosy  nooks  on  the 
wharves  where  holders  of  sinecures  might  doze  com- 
fortably ;  the  ships  of  war  everywhere  were  to  be  in- 
structed to  enforce  the  revenue  laws.  The  new  scheme 
was  zealously  pushed,  and  the  friction  at  once  gave  rise 
to  fire,  —  fire  which  was  destined  to  increase  until  the 
ties  between  mother  land  and  dependency  were  quite 
consumed. 

In  February,  1761,  Hutchinson,  just  warming  to  his 
work  as  Chief  Justice,  was  a  principal  figure  in  the 
famous  stir  about  the  Writs  of  Assistance,  during 
which,  according  to  John  Adams,  the  child  Indepen- 
dence was  born.  Even  in  the  time  of  slack  adminis- 
tration, customs  -  officers,  merely  on  the  authority  of 
their  commissions,  had  sometimes  forcibly  entered  ware- 
houses and  even  dwelling-houses,  upon  information  that 
smuggled  goods  were  concealed  in  them.  Shirley,  while 
Governor,  when  appealed  to  for  authority  by  customs- 
officers  who  were  thus  acting,  had  in  his  character 
as  a  civil  magistrate  sanctioned  such  entrances.  Hutch- 
inson  at  the  time  thought  this  extraordinary  in  a  man  of 
sense  and  legal  education,  since,  by  law,  not  the  Gov- 
ernor, but  the  Courts,  must  give  such  sanction.  Hutch- 
inson himself  was  instrumental  in  bringing  the  ille- 
gality to  light.     When  the  customs  -  officers  one  day 


17G1]  THE  CHIEF  JUSTICESHIP.  53 

were  about  to  break  into  the  warehouse  of  his  brother, 
upon  information  that  smuggled  Spanish  iron  was  con- 
cealed there,  he,  being  on  the  spot,  challenged  the 
officers  for  their  authority,  and  was  sliown  in  answer  the 
Governor's  warrant.  Sending  for  the  keys,  he  showed 
the  searchers  that  their  information  was  wrong,  for  no 
iron  was  there ;  but  at  the  same  time  he  declared  that 
if  they  had  made  an  entry  they  would  have  been  prose- 
cuted, as  only  the  Courts  could  give  the  proper  au- 
thority. Shirley  became  more  cautious,  referring  the 
officers  to  the  Superior  Court  for  their  warrants.^ 

In  the  new  state  of  affairs,  the  ministry  pressing  on 
the  one  hand  for  a  thorough  collection  of  the  revenue, 
and  the  peoj)le  on  the  other  hand  being  full  of  spirit 
through  commercial  prosperity,  military  success,  and  re- 
hef  from  fear  of  the  French,  the  authority  of  even  the 
Superior  Court  to  grant  warrants  was  questioned.  This 
was  just  before  the  death  of  Chief  Justice  Sewall,  who 
was  understood  to  have  doubts  of  the  legality  of  such 
Writs.  The  matter  came  before  Hutchinson  in  the 
early  weeks  of  his  incumbency.  James  Otis,  Jr.,  held 
at  this  time  the  lucrative  position  of  advocate-general, 
and  as  such  was  applied  to  by  the  customs  authorities 
to  defend  them.  He  refused  to  do  it,  resionina-  his 
office.  "  In  such  a  cause,"  said  he,  "  I  despise  all 
fees."  ^  Candid  though  Hutchinson  in  general  is,  the 
heat  with  which  he  fought  the  protagonists  of  popular 
ideas  is  still  warm  in  the  phrases  in  which,  twenty  years 
later,  he  sets  down  his  narrative.  He  attributes  the 
course  of  Otis  entirely  to  the  personal  resentment  he 

1  Hutchinson  :  Hist.,  iii.  92.  2  Tudor  :  Life  of  Otis,  57. 


64  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1761 

felt  because  his  father  had  failed  to  be  made  Chief 
Justice,  —  a  construction  which  the  words  and  course 
of  Otis  make  it  plain  is  unfair-.  Hutchinson  does  bet- 
ter in  his  statement  of  the  legal  principles  involved ; 
here  he  is  clear  and  judicial.^  It  was  objected  that  the 
"  Writs  of  Assistance,"  as  the  warrants  were  technically 
called,  were  general  in  their  nature.  Though  formerly, 
in  searching  for  goods  which  had  been  stolen,  there 
had  been  an  employment  of  general  warrants,  the  prac- 
tice had  ceased  for  many  years.  Special  warrants, 
issued  by  Justices  of  the  Peace,  had  taken  their  place, 
in  which  the  spots  to  be  searched  must  be  carefully 
set  forth.  In  lilie  manner,  as  regards  search  for  con- 
traband goods,  general  writs  should  be  given  up  for 
special  writs  ;  to  such  special  writs  it  was  declared  no 
objection  would  be  made,  if  the  place  where  the  search 
was  to  be  were  mentioned,  and  information  given  upon 
oath.  It  was  declared  that  the  practice  in  England 
now  was  to  use  only  such  special  writs  in  searching  for 
smuggled  goods  ;  on  authority,  however,  quite  unsatis- 
factory, for  all  that  could  be  cited  was  a  passage  in 
a  London  magazine.  The  judges,  Hutchinson  con- 
tinues, were  certain  that  such  special  writs  would  rarely, 
if  ever,  be  applied  for,  as  no  informer  would  expose 
himself  to  the  rage  of  the  people  by  taking  oath  as  to 
particular  places  of  deposit  for  stolen  goods.  The  posi- 
tion of  the  Chief  Justice  was  an  embarrassing  one.  His 
own  proclivities  were  for  free  trade ;  his  friends  had 
been  concerned  in  contraband  commerce,  according  to 
the  universal  practice  in  the  time  of  slack  administra- 

1  Hutchinson  :  Hist,  iii.  93,  94. 


1761]  THE   CHIEF  JUSTICESHIP.  55 

tion.  A  change  had  come  about :  government  had  de- 
clared the  laws  must  be  enforced,  and  it  lay  upon  him 
to  determine  the  laws,  and  see  to  their  enforcement.  A 
statute  of  the  fourteenth  year  of  Charles  II.  authorized 
the  issuing  of  Writs  of  Assistance  from  the  Court  of 
Exchequer  in  England.  Statutes  of  the  seventh  and 
eighth  of  William  III.  required  of  the  Colonial  Courts 
to  give  to  officers  all  such  aid  as  was  given  to  officers 
by  Courts  in  England.  Did  the  Superior  Court  corre- 
spond to  the  Court  of  Exchequer  ?  Was  the  London 
magazine  right  in  its  account  of  the  proper  author- 
ization for  a  search  ?  One  feels  that  the  Superior 
Court  could  do  no  otherwise  than  hesitate,  and  that  it 
■would  be  proper  to  suspend  judgment  until  the  Chief 
Justice  could  send  to  England  and  have  the  doubtful 
points  set  at  rest. 

Before  this  determination  was  reached,  James  Otis 
made  that  memorable  plea,  one  of  the  epoch-making 
events  in  the  history  of  America.  In  Hutchinson's 
eyes  it  scarcely  merited  notice ;  but  fortunately  there 
sat  at  the  table  in  the  Council  Chamber  where  the  Court 
was  held,  wigged  and  gowned,  a  young  lawyer,  twenty- 
six  years  old,  of  compact,  well-set  frame  surmounted  by 
a  head  and  face  suofo^estive  of  brains  and  a  most  com- 
bative  temper,  who  had  come  up  from  his  home  in 
Braintree  to  be  present  at  the  trial,  —  John  Adams. 
His  famous  description,  written  in  old  age  to  Wil- 
liam Tudor,  cannot  be  omitted  here.  "  The  Council 
Chamber  was  as  respectable  an  apartment  as  the  House 
of  Commons  or  the  House  of  Lords  in  Great  Britain, 
in  proportion ;  or  that  in  the  State  House  in  Philadel- 


56  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1761 

pliia,  in  which  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
signed  in  1776.  In  this  chamber,  round  a  great 
fire,  were  seated  five  judges,  with  Lieutenant-Governor 
Hutchinson  at  their  head  as  Chief  Justice,  all  arrayed 
in  their  new,  fresh,  rich  robes  of  scarlet  English  broad- 
cloth ;  in  their  large  cambric  bands  and  immense  judi- 
cial wigs.  In  this  chamber  were  seated  at  a  long  table 
all  the  barristers-at-law  of  Boston  and  of  the  neighbor- 
ing county  of  Middlesex,  in  gowns,  bands,  and  tie  wigs. 
They  were  not  seated  on  ivory  chairs,  but  their  dress 
was  more  solemn  and  more  pompous  than  that  of  the 
Roman  Senate,  when  the  Gauls  broke  in  upon  them. 
Two  portraits,  at  more  than  full  length,  of  King  Charles 
the  Second  and  of  King  James  the  Second,  in  splendid 
golden  frames,  were  hung  up  on  the  most  conspicuous 
sides  of  the  apartment.  If  my  young  eyes  or  old 
memory  have  not  deceived  me,  these  were  as  fine  pic- 
tures as  I  ever  saw ;  the  colors  of  the  royal  ermines 
and  long,  flowing  robes  were  the  most  glowing,  the 
figures  the  most  noble  and  graceful,  the  features 
the  most  distinct  and  characteristic,  far  superior  to 
those  of  the  king  and  queen  of  France  in  the  Senate 
chamber  of  Congress,  —  these  were  worthy  of  the  pen- 
cils of  Rubens  and  Vandyke.  There  was  no  painter  in 
England  capable  of  them  at  that  time.  They  had  been 
sent  over  without  frames  in  Governor  Pownall's  time, 
but  he  was  no  admirer  of  Charles  or  James.  The 
pictures  were  stowed  away  in  a  garret,  among  rubbish, 
until  Governor  Bernard  came,  who  had  them  cleaned, 
superbly  framed,  and  placed  in  council  for  the  admira- 
tion and  imitation  of  all  men,  no  doubt  with  the  advice 


17G1]  THE  CHIEF  JUSTICESHIP.  67 

and  concurrence  of  Hutchinson  and  all  his  nebula  of 
stars  and  satellites.  One  circumstance  more.  Samuel 
Quincy  and  John  Adams  had  been  admitted  barristers 
at  that  term.  John  was  the  youngest;  he  should  be 
painted  looking  like  a  short,  thick  archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, seated  at  the  table  with  a  pen  in  his  hand,  lost  in 
admiration." 

The  court  -  room  thus  described  was  the  Council 
Chamber  of  the  Old  State  House,  still  preserved  in  all 
its  original  features,  and  containing  the  table  at  which 
John  Adams  sat.  The  room  has  been  the  theatre  of  as 
many  great  events  probably  as  any  one  spot  in  America, 
several  of  which  it  will  be  for  the  follower  of  this  nar- 
rative to  consider.  Most  important  of  all,  perhaps,  is 
the  scene  of  that  duU  February  day,  the  firelight  dan- 
cing on  the  handsome  pictures,  the  dignitaries  of  the 
Province  ranged  before  them,  and  the  scarlet  judges, 
with  Hutchinson  at  their  head,  —  the  pompous  circum- 
stances of  the  occasion  being  a  novelty  which  he  had 
introduced.  With  Otis  in  the  case  was  employed  Ox- 
enbridge  Thacher,  an  advocate  of  ability,  who  at  the 
same  time  was  prominent  in  the  Assembly,  —  a  patriot 
too  early  lost,  —  whose  death  by  consimiption,  in  1 765, 
opened  the  way  into  public  life  for  Sam  Adams.  There 
is  some  reason  for  thinking  that  Thacher  found  Otis  an 
uncomfortable  associate.  "  When  he  [Thacher]  hap- 
pened to  think  differently  from  Mr.  Otis,  Jun.,  in  the 
House  of  Assembly,  the  latter  treated  him  in  so  over- 
bearing and  indecent  a  manner  that  he  was  obliged  at 
times  to  call  upon  the  Speaker  to  interpose  and  protect 
him."i 

1  Gordon  :  i.  205. 


58  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1761 

The  case  was  opened  by  Jeremiah  GricUey,  a  veteran 
of  the  bar,  with  whom  Otis  had  studied,  who,  with 
clearness  and  dignity,  made  a  plea  for  the  customs 
officials.  Thacher  followed,  cool  and  quiet ;  but  Otis, 
according  to  John  Adams,  was  a  "  flame  of  fire  ;  "  and 
enough  remains  of  the  impassioned  sentences  to  make 
plain  to  us  how  it  was  that  every  man  of  the  immense 
crowd  went  away  prepared  to  take  arms  against  Writs 
of  Assistance.  The  extant  portrait  of  Otis  gives  no 
impressive  presence.  A  contemporary  describes  him  as 
"  a  plump,  round-faced,  smooth-skinned,  short-necked, 
eagle-eyed  politician."  In  black  gown  and  wig,  his 
exterior  advantages  can  hardly  have  been  great.  But 
his  words  still  burn  after  more  than  a  hundred  years. 

"  If  the  king  of  Great  Britain  in  person  were  en- 
camped on  Boston  Common  at  the  head  of  20,000  men, 
with  all  his  navy  on  our  coast,  he  would  not  be  able  to 
execute  these  laws.  They  would  be  resisted  or  eluded. 
.  .  .  One  of  the  most  essential  branches  of  Eno-lish 
liberty  is  the  freedom  of  one's  house.  A  man's  house 
is  his  castle  ;  and  whilst  he  is  quiet  he  is  as  well  guarded 
as  a  prince  in  his  castle.  This  writ,  if  it  should  be 
declared  legal,  would  totally  annihilate  this  privilege. 
Custom-house  officers  may  enter  our  houses  when  they 
please  ;  we  are  commanded  to  permit  their  entry.  Their 
menial  servants  may  enter,  .  .  .  and  whether  they 
break  through  malice  or  revenge,  no  man,  no  court, 
can  inquire."  Most  important  of  all,  the  Acts  of 
Trade,  he  contended,  "  impose  taxes,  —  enormous,  bur- 
thensome,  intolerable  taxes ;  and  on  this  topic  he  gave 
full  scope  to  his  talent  for  powerful  declamation  and 


17G1]  THE   CHIEF  JUSTICESHIP.  59 

invective,  against  the  tyranny  of  taxation  without  rep- 
resentation. From  the  energy  with  which  he  urged 
this  position  that  taxation  without  representation  is 
tyranny,  it  came  to  be  a  common  maxmi  in  the  mouth 
of  every  one.  ...  I  do  say,  in  the  most  solemn  man- 
ner, that  Mr.  Otis's  oration  against  Writs  of  Assistance 
breathed  into  this  nation  the  breath  of  hfe." 

John  Adams,  whom  we  are  following,  was  greatly 
moved,  too,  by  certain  minor  incidents  of  the  occasion. 
As  to  Otis's  treatment  of  his  old  teacher,  Gridley,  he 
says  :  "  It  was  a  moral  spectacle  more  affecting  to  me 
than  any  I  have  since  seen  upon  the  stage  to  observe  the 
pupil  treating  his  master  with  all  the  deference  and  re- 
spect, esteem  and  affection,  of  a  son  to  a  father,  and 
that  Avithout  the  least  affectation  ;  while  he  baffled  and 
confounded  all  his  authorities,  confuted  all  his  argu- 
ments, and  reduced  hmi  to  silence." 

That  Otis's  plea  was  a  powerful  one  is  certain.  Bos- 
ton at  once  made  him  its  Representative  in  the  Assem- 
bly, adopted  his  phrase,  "  no  taxation  without  repre- 
sentation," as  a  rallying-cry,  and  conceded  to  him  for 
many  years  after  a  leadership  that  was  scarcely  broken 
even  when  he  became  insane.  He  could  not  enter  a 
Town-Meeting  without  being  received  with  clapping  of 
hands  ;  and  at  last  became  a  great  embarrassment  to  his 
party  from  the  fact  that,  although  his  wits  were  gone, 
the  people  would  still  follow  him.  Hutchinson,  it  is 
plain,  quite  fails  to  do  justice,  not  only  to  the  good 
purpose,  but  also  to  the  ability  of  Otis.  He  looked 
back  upon  the  scene  through  years  charged  with  the 
smoke  of  a  tremendous  conflict,  durins"  which  he  and 


60  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1761 

Otis  had  been  locked  in  an  almost  continuous  struggle. 
What  to  Adams  seemed  in  the  retrospect  extreme 
eloquence  seemed  to  Hutchinson  extreme  violence. 
Adams  declares  that  Hutchinson  had  been  made  Chief 
Justice  by  Bernard,  that  the  Writs  of  Assistance  might 
be  sustained.  This  can  by  no  means  have  been  true. 
Hutchinson  had  long  felt  that  such  Writs  were  issued 
too  loosely ;  and  his  interference  with  the  execution  of 
one,  as  appears  from  the  account  which  has  been  given, 
caused  that  the  Governor  ceased  to  issue  them  on  his 
own  responsibility,  making  it  necessary  that  there 
should  be  an  application  to  the  Court.  Sewall  had  been 
in  doubt  what  to  do  about  them ;  Hutchinson  was  in 
doubt ;  and  it  really  was  easy  for  well-meaning  and  sen- 
sible men  in  that  time  to  see  nothing  improper  or  inex- 
pedient in  the  Writs.  The  government  certainly  needed 
revenue,  which  could  be  got  only  through  taxation. 
"  No  taxation  without  representation,"  though  a  princi- 
ple as  old  as  Magna  Cliarta,  had  been  long  out'  of  the 
minds  of  men  ;  and  when  Otis  enunciated  it  anew,  tune 
was  required  to  have  it  sink  fairly  into  the  world's  com- 
prehension. The  taxes  were  evaded,  the  whole  country 
being  given  over  to  unlawful  trade  in  a  way  most  de- 
moralizino-.  The  warehouses  were  few  indeed  in  which 
there  were  no  smuggled  goods.  Freedom,  to  be  sure, 
was  outraged  when  a  customs-officer  invaded  a  man's 
house,  his  castle  ;  but  high  tariffs  cannot  exist  without 
outrages  upon  freedom.  The  measures  taken  for  tariff 
enforcement  in  the  days  of  Grenville  and  Bernard  were 
perhaps  no  more  objectionable  than  those  employed  in 
the  days  of  McKinley.     Writs  of  Assistance  were  legal 


17G1]  THE   CHIEF  JUSTICESHIP.  61 

and  usual  in  England.  I£  they  are  ever  justifiable,  said 
then,  and  still  say,  English  authorities,  they  are  justi- 
fiable under  such  circumstances  as  prevailed  in  America.^ 
Once  recognize  it  as  equitable  and  expedient  for  govern- 
ment to  put  heavy  fetters  upon  commerce,  and  it  follows, 
as  the  night  the  day,  that  espionage  and  infringement 
of  personal  liberty  must  be  called  into  play  to  make  the 
scheme  effective.  Writs  of  Assistance  should  not  be 
found  fault  with,  but  the  commercial  system  of  which 
Writs  of  Assistance,  or  something  equivalent,  are  the 
indispensable  accompaniment.  Adam  Smith  at  that 
very  time  was  living  and  seeking  to  spread  wiser  ideas 
in  a  tariff-ridden  world.  His  views,  however,  were  as 
yet  little  known  and  less  followed.  To  hamper  trade 
between  nations  was  almost  universally  held  to  be  legiti- 
mate ;  Writs  of  Assistance,  or  other  means  as  arbitrary, 
were  inevitable,  in  order  to  make  the  restriction  effective. 
Hutchinson  was  as  yet  a  novice  in  the  Chief  Justiceship  ; 
but  he  made  no  mistake  in  postponing  a  decision.  It 
was  eminently  proper  for  the  Court  to  wait  until  the 
English  practice  could  be  known.  When  news  came 
from  England,  a  form  was  settled  on  as  near  to  that 
employed  in  England  as  circimistances  would  permit. 
Writs  were  issued  to  customs-officers,  for  whom  appH- 
cation  should  be  made  to  the  Chief  Justice  by  the 
Surveyor-General  of  the  customs.  Little,  however,  was 
heard  of  them  from  this  time  forth. 

Hutchinson  appears  to  have  been  far  enough  from 
friendly  to  the  arbitrary  method,  but  his  popularity 
from    now    begins  to   wane.     People  were  taught,  he 

1  Lecky  :  Hist,  of  XVIIIth  Cent.,  vol.  iii.  p.  330. 


62  THE   LIFE   OF   THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1762 

says,  that  innovations  under  pretense  of  law  were  now 
confirmed  by  judgments  of  court  incompatible  with 
English  liberties,  and  that  the  authority  of  the  Courts 
of  Admiralty  and  powers  of  customs-officers,  always 
deemed  grievous  because  unconstitutional,  were  now 
established  by  judges  devoted  to  the  prerogative.  The 
main  hand  in  this  teaching  was  no  doubt  James  Otis ; 
but  he  at  this  time,  with  the  vacillation  of  disease,  dis- 
tributed praise  and  blame  almost  with  the  same  breath. 
Peter  OHver,  who  succeeded  Hutchinson  as  Chief  Jus- 
tice, is  quoted  by  John  Adams  as  saying  to  him  that 
Otis  would  at  one  time  declare  of  the  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor "  that  he  would  rather  have  him  than  any  man  he 
knows  ui  any  one  office  ;  and  the  next  hour  will  repre- 
sent him  as  the  greatest  tyrant  and  most  despicable 
creature  living."^ 

^  Diary,  June  5,  1762. 

The  reasonableness  of  the  position  of  Hutchinson  in  the  case  of  the 
Writs  of  Assistance  has  been  maintained  and  exhibited  in  detail  by  so 
high  an  authority  as  Horace  Gray,  Jr.,  Esq.,  now  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  See  Quiucy,  Massachusetts  Reports,  1761- 
1772,  Appendix  I. 

The  records  of  the  old  Superior  Court  are  preserved  entire  in  the  Court 
House  in  Boston,  among  the  records  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court.  The 
original  papers  are  now  being  arranged  under  the  supervision  of  John 
Noble,  Esq.,  Clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court  for  Suffolk  County.  These 
papers,  when  available  for  consultation,  will  fully  illustrate  Hutchinson's 
judicial  career. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    STAMP-ACT    TUMULTS. 

A  CURRENCY  dispute  took  place  in  1762  between  the 
Council  and  House,  headed  respectively  by  Hutchinson 
and  Otis,  in  which  the  former,  true  to  the  policy  which 
had  already  been  of  such  advantage,  set  himself  once 
more  against  a  course  certain  to  lead  to  a  disastrous 
depreciation.  He  tells  the  story  himself  clearly  and 
dispassionately  :  — 

"  The  currency  of  Massachusetts  Bay  had  been  under 
as  good  regulation  as  possible  from  the  time  that  paper 
had  been  exchanged  for  silver,  which  was  made  the 
standard  at  6s.  8d.  the  ounce.  Gold  was  not  a  lawful 
tender,  but  passed  current  at  fixed  rates,  —  a  guinea  at 
28s.,  a  moidore  at  36s.,  etc.,  being  nearly  the  same  pro- 
portion that  gold  bore  to  silver  in  Europe  at  the  time 
when  paper  money  was  exchanged.  Silver  bullion,  for 
a  year  or  two  past,  had  advanced  in  price  in  England 
from  5s.  3d.  to  5s.  7d.  an  ounce.  A  greater  proportion 
of  silver  than  of  gold  had  been  exported,  and  people 
who  observed  the  scarcity  of  silver  were  alarmed.  A 
bill  was  brought  into  the  House  of  Representatives  and 
passed,  making  gold  a  lawful  tender  at  the  rates  at 
which  the  several  coins  had  been  current  for  many  years 
past.  A  conference  ensued  between  the  two  Houses, 
the  Lieutenant-Governor  being  at  the  head  of  the  man- 


64  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1762 

agers  for  the  Council,  and  Mr.  Otis  of  those  for  the 
House.  The  only  argument  on  the  part  of  the  House 
was  the  danger  of  oppression  upon  debtors  by  their  be- 
ing obliged  to  procure  silver  at  disadvantage.  On  the 
part  of  the  Council,  it  was  said  that  the  proportion  be- 
tween silver  and  gold  was  different  at  different  times  ; 
that  one  only  ought  to  be  the  standard,  and  the  other 
considered  as  merchandise ;  that  silver  being  made  the 
standard  in  the  Province,  it  behoved  government  rather 
to  reduce  the  rate  at  which  gold  coin  should  pass,  so  as 
to  make  gold  and  silver  the  same  in  the  Province  as  in 
Europe ;  that  in  such  case  there  would  be  the  same 
profit  upon  exporting  gold  as  silver  ;  but  as  one  metal 
was  made  the  standard  and  the  only  lawful  tender,  it 
was  not  advisable  for  government  to  regulate  the  other, 
but  to  leave  it  to  take  its  chance  ;  and  that  there  was 
no  other  way  of  securing  the  currency  from  deprecia- 
tion. 

"  The  House  was  much  engaged  to  carry  the  bill 
through,  but  the  Council  stood  firm  and  rejected  it.  In 
a  session  of  the  Assembly,  some  time  after,  this  bill 
passed  into  an  act,  and  gold,  as  well  as  silver,  was  made 
a  lawful  tender.  But  about  the  same  time,  the  price  of 
silver  bullion  in  England  fell  to  5s.  3d.,  or  5s.  2d.  the 
ounce,  and  there  was  no  longer  any  profit  by  the  expor- 
tation of  silver  rather  than  gold.  There  seems  to  be  no 
reason  for  engaging  men  more  on  one  side  the  question 
than  the  other  in  this  dispute,  only  as  one  side  might 
appear  to  them  more  just  and  reasonable  than  the  other; 
but  the  Lieutenant-Governor  having  taken  one  side  of 
the  question,  Mr.  Otis  took  the  other ;  and  the  court 


1762]  THE   STAMP-ACT  TUMULTS.  65 

and  country  parties  took  one  side  and  the  other  with 
much  of  the  same  spirit  as  if  it  had  been  a  controversy 
between  privilege  and  prerogative."  ^ 

To  comment  for  a  moment  on  this  account,  let  it  be 
observed  that  the  status  of  the  two  metals,  as  compared 
with  that  of  our  time,  is  reversed.  Silver  it  is  which 
rises  in  value,  leading  to  its  export  and  consequent 
scarcity.  Silver  rising,  gold  properly  should  fall ;  but 
the  House,  using  the  argument  which  in  our  ears  has 
such  a  familiar  sound,  are  afraid  of  hardship  to  debt- 
ors, and  insist  that  through  legislation  the  value  of 
gold  shall  be  maintained,  that  obligations  may  be  more 
easily  met.  Unquestionably,  the  Council's  view  was 
sound  finance,  as  had  been  the  case  in  the  great  strug- 
gle against  paper  money  a  dozen  years  before.  In  the 
whole  matter,  Hutchinson  is  very  much  in  the  fore- 
ground, aided  by  a  noteworthy  figure  whom  in  later 
controversies  w^e  shall  see  in  strong  opposition  to  him, 
a  substantial,  most  intelligent  merchant  of  Huguenot 
descent,  James  Bowdoin.  Fortunately,  the  fluctuation 
in  silver  was  only  temporary,  and  serious  trouble  in  the 
currency  was  at  this  time  escaped.  Some  heat  was 
evolved  in  the  debate,  which  the  leader  of  the  Coun- 
cil betrayed  by  omitting  mention  in  his  letters  of  his 
antagonist ;  while  Otis  charged  his  sentences  with  the 
sarcasm  which  he  so  well  knew  how  to  employ  effec- 
tively. "  Instances  may  be  found,"  he  says,  "  where 
a  man  of  abilities  shall  monopolize  a  power  proportionate 
to  all  those  of  Lord  Chief  Baron  of  the  Exchequer, 
Lord  Chief  Justice  of  both  benches.  Lord  High  Treas- 

1  Hutchinson:  Hist.,  vol.  iii., p.  98,  etc. 


66  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1762 

urer,  and  Lord  High  Chancellor  of  Great  Britain,  united 
in  one  single  person.  There  is  no  axiom  in  mathemat- 
ics clearer  than  that  no  man  ought  to  be  sole  legislator 
of  his  country  and  supreme  judge  of  his  fellow-citi- 
zens." ^  Here  first,  probably,  the  charge  is  recorded 
which  afterwards  was  reiterated  constantly  through 
Hutchinson's  life,  and  has  been  repeated  by  every  his- 
torian who  has  touched  his  career,  —  that  he  was  a 
rapacious  seeker  of  office,  absorbing  into  his  own  hands 
through  mere  lust  of  pelf  and  power  an  extraordinary 
variety  of  functions.  From  a  superficial  view  one  in- 
deed may  get  the  impression  that  Hutchinson  was  a 
"  Pooh  Bah,"  scarcely  less  absurd  than  the  functionary 
of  the  "  Mikado."  At  this  time,  he  was  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  President  of  the  Council,  Chief  Justice,  and 
Judge  of  Probate.  A  fair  study  of  the  case,  however, 
will  lead  one  to  conclude  that  certainly  gain  had  no- 
thing to  do  with  the  matter.  As  Chief  Justice,  he  re- 
ceived an  uncertain  salary,  probably  never  more  than 
.£200  a  year,  when  it  was  fully  paid.  In  fact,  the 
House  in  caprice  did  not  hesitate  at  tunes  to  abridge 
the  amount  or  cut  it  off  entirely.  In  his  subordinate 
judicial  employments,  he  received  pittances  still  more 
trifling.  As  Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas,  he  had 
£100  ;  as  Probate  Judge,  no  doubt  less ;  while  to  his 
execu.tive  and  legislative  positions  it  does  not  appear 
that  any  emoluments  were  attached  until  after  he  suc- 
ceeded Bernard.  The  case  seems  to  have  been  this : 
with  his  means,  for  that  day  so  ample,  he  had  leisure 
such  as  few  men  of  that  community  possessed;  his  abil- 

1  Tudor  :  Life  of  Otis,  p.  106. 


1762]  THE  STAMP-ACT  TUMULTS.  6j,/ 

ity  and  high  character,  revealed  abundantly  in  his  great 
services,  brought  it  about  that  office  came  to  him. 
There  is  good  evidence  in  his  letters  to  his  friends,  now 
and  at  later  periods,  that  he  would  have  resigned  will- 
ingly his  dignities.  "  I  had  no  views  of  personal  ad- 
vantage, no  thought  of  ever  seeking  my  advancement ; 
and  if  I  had  lost  the  small  emoluments  of  the  posts  I 
sustain,  I  have  sufficient  income  from  my  own  estate  to 
free  me  from  anxiety."  ^  "  Not  that  I  am  anxious  for 
the  continuance  of  my  commission.  I  am  every  day 
more  and  more  reconciled  to  parting  with  it,  and  when- 
ever there  shall  be  a  new  appointment  of  a  Governor  I 
shall  chuse  to  resign  it."  ^  He  probably  enjoyed  the 
activity  which  his  positions  brought  him,  as  an  ener- 
getic man  always  enjoys  work  which  he  can  do  well. 
A  fair  mind,  however,  will  not  doubt  that  he  was  full 
of  public  spirit,  willing  to  sustain  great  burdens  and 
sacrifices  to  serve  the  community.  As  our  story  pro- 
ceeds, we  shall  see  how  stubbornly  he  kept  his  shoulder  i 
to  the  wheel,  in  the  way  in  which  he  thought  his  duty  i 
lay,  until  at  last  he  underwent  ruin,  saving  his  life  only  ) 
by  exile. 

Otis,  nevertheless,  in  exposing  and  satirizing  as  ab- 
surd and  improper  the  union  in  one  public  man  of 
functions  judicial,  executive,  and  legislative,  was  speak- 
ing by  the  book.  He  was  one  of  the  few  men  in 
America  at  that  time  familiar  with  Montesquieu's  doc- 
trine, afterwards  so  famous,  and  so  potent  in  moulding 
the  federal  instrument   in   1787,  of  the   necessity  in  a 

1  Oct.  15,  1764. 

2  Nov.  8,  1764.     Mass.  Archives  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi. 


68  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1762 

free  constitution  of  separating  the  three  powers-  At 
the  present  day  the  French  pubHcist  has  fewer  followers 
than  once.  The  constitution  of  England  and  her  de- 
pendencies has  been  evolved  on  lines  not  in  accord  with 
what  he  approved  5  and  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that 
the  Fathers,  in  our  case,  did  well  by  keeping  the  execu- 
tive and  the  legislative  so  rigidly  apart/  Hutchinson 
was  not  embarrassed  by  any  consciousness  of  incon- 
gruity; and  Otis,  m  his  criticism,  was  in  harmony  with 
an  illustrious  company,  the  men  of  1787.  In  the  win- 
ter session  of  1762,  a  bill  was  introduced  to  exclude 
the  judges  of  the  Superior  Court  from  holding  seats  in 
the  Council  or  Assembly,  which  was  lost  by  only  seven 
votes.  Here,  again,  Otis  and  Hutchinson  faced  one  the 
other,  the  disciple  of  Montesquieu  in  this  case  losing. 

As  yet  no  definite  line  was  drawn  between  patriots 
and  prerogative  men.  Hutchinson  had  not  broken  with 
Otis,  who  now  and  always  scouted  the  idea  of  inde- 
pendence for  the  Colonies  as  disloyal  f oUy.  Otis's  most 
cherished  idea,  that  the  Colonies  should  have  represen- 
tatives in  Parliament,  an  idea  which,  as  we  have  seen, 
Franklin  urged  in  1754,  and  which  leading  statesmen 
in  England,  Grenville  for  instance,  were  not  unwilling 
to  grant,  seems  never  to  have  been,  in  Hutchinson's 
\Tiew,  a  feasible  scheme.  He  mentions  it,  but  without 
commendation  ;  and  soon  after,  with  the  rise  of  Samuel 
Adams  into  influence,  it  ceased  to  be  regarded  as  a 
practicable  thing :  the  distance  from  England  was  felt 
to  be  too  vast.     Oppressive  duties  were  dreaded  by  all. 

^  The  valiant  championship  of  "  G.  B.,"  in  the  New  York  Nation,  is 
certainly  known  to  the  intelligent  reader. 


17G2]  THE   STAMP-ACT  TUMULTS.  G9 

Hutchinson  clisliked_as .  much  as  Otis  harsh  revenue 
laws ;  and  Bernard  himself  we  shall  presently  find  in 
strong  o})position  to  the  Stamp  Act.  It  was  natural 
enou<^li,  then,  that  not  long-  after  the  great  case  of  the 
Writs  of  Assistance  Bernard  and  the  Otises  stood  on 
good  terms.  The  accession  of  the  new  King  made 
necessary  many  changes  of  officials,  and  the  senior  Otis 
was  allowed  to  do  pretty  much  what  he  pleased  in  ap- 
pointments in  the  county  of  Barnstable,  an  opportunity 
which  he  seems  to  have  used  to  the  full.  Shortly  after, 
the  younger  Otis  showed  on  his  side  equal  favor  to  Ber- 
nard by  advocating  the  grant  to  him  by  the  Assembly 
of  the  valuable  island  of  Mt.  Desert. 

Soon,  liowever,  the  officials  and  the  Otises  were  again 
at  odds.  The  Governor  and  Council  took  it  upon  them- 
selves to  appropriate  a  small  sum  of  £300  or  .£400  in 
bounties  for  sailors,  to  be  employed  in  defending  fisher- 
men against  the  French.  The  Assembly,  in  September, 
hereupon  maintained  the  ancient  English  doctrine,  that 
all  money  bills  must  originate  in  the  lower  House,  a 
doctrine  upon  which  much  dust  had  accumulated.  Otis 
called  the  plan  of  the  Governor  and  Council  an  annihi- 
lation of  one  branch  of  the  legislature ;  and  in  news- 
paper articles  with  which  he  was  more  or  less  directly 
concerned  attacked  the  Council,  and  especially  Hutchin- 
son, its  leader  and  president.  The  financial  controversy 
in  which  Hutchinson,  with  his  usual  wisdom,  had  with- 
stood what  was  sure  to  lead  to  depreciation  of  the  cur- 
rency, led  to  unpopularity;  and  Hutchinson  wrote  in 
March  to  Bollan,  the  able  agent  who  had  secured, 
twelve    years    before,    the    Louisburg    reimbursement 


70  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1763 

wliicli  Hutchinson  had  put  to  such  good  use  :  "  This 
trial  (the  Writs  of  Assistance)  and  my  pernicious  prin- 
ciples about  the  currency,  have  taken  away  a  great 
number  of  friends,  and  the  House  have  not  only  re- 
duced the  allowance  to  the  Superior  Court  in  general, 
but  have  refused  to  make  any  alloAvance  at  all  to  me  as 
Chief  Justice.  I  shall  make  no  complaint  under  this 
cloud,  but  please  myself  with  hopes  of  its  blowing  over. 
At  worst,  I  hope  to  keep  a  conscla  mens  recti.''''  ^  Bol- 
lan  at  this  time  was  superseded  as  agent  in  spite  of  his 
great  services,  becoming  a  victim  of  the  odium  theologi- 
cum.  He  was  a  churchman,  a  creature  which  the  Puri- 
tan stomach  at  this  crisis  could  less  than  ever  abide. 
The  always  present  danger  of  the  establishment  of  an 
episcopate  in  America,  dread  of  which  had  much  to  do 
with  the  Revolution,  seemed  just  now  unusually  immi- 
nent. Into  Bollan's  place  as  agent  was  put,  therefore, 
Jasper  Mauduit,  of  London,  with  whom  was  associated 
Richard  Jackson,  already  agent  for  Connecticut ;  more- 
over, private  secretary  of  Grenville,  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer,  —  a  cherished  friend  to  whom  Hutchinson 
often  wrote. 

At  the  Peace  of  Paris,  in  1763,  which  concluded  the 
Seven  Years'  War,  general  content  prevailed  in  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  and  the  dispositions  of  men  were  very 
loyal.  At  the  first  Town-Meeting  in  Boston  after  the 
event,  Otis,  as  usual  now,  being  the  Moderator,  spoke 
eloquently  of  the  British  empire  and  constitution : 
"The  true  interests  of  Great  Britain  and  her  plantations 
are  mutual,  and  what  God  in  his  providence  has  united 

^  From  the  Autograph,  Afass.  Archiv.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  9. 


1763]  THE   STAMP-ACT   TUMULTS.  71 

let  110  man  dare  attempt  to  pull  asunder."  But  the 
Revolution  wa^  even  now  in  the  air.  No  historic  fact 
can  be  more  clearly  shown  than  that  the  contest,  the 
threshold  of  which  we  have  now  reached,  was  really 
not  one  between  England  and  America,  but  a  dispute 
which  went  on  both  in  Eno-land  and  America,  in  each 


^.....^^     ...X..      ^^XX.V.XXV.Cl, 


land  between  two  parties  not  far  from  equal  in  strength. 
In  America  the  strife  was  bloody  and  not  prolonged ; 
in  England  it  was  bloodless,  but  very  gradual,  the 
closing  scenes  of  the  struggle  not  being  unfolded  until 
our  own  time.^  Soon  after  the  coming  in  of  the  new 
King,  John  Wilkes  became  famous,  a  champion  of  the 
people  against  strongly  intrenched  privilege.  Unfor- 
tunately, he  was  in  himself  but  a  jDOor  creature,  though 
endowed  with  considerable  powers.  He  became,  how- 
ever, the  instrument  of  Providence  throusfh  whom 
memorable  changes  came  to  pass  in  the  condition  of 
the  mass  of  Englishmen.  "  Wilkes  and  liberty  !  "  was 
heard  in  these  days  scarcely  less  often  in  the  streets  of 
Boston  than  in  those  of  London.  Suddenly  the  names 
of  Whig  and  Tory  became  designations  of  parties  in 
America  as  yet  only  vaguely  defined.  On  both  sides 
of  the  sea  the  same  line  was  being  drawn  ;  on  both 
sides,  too,  the  classes  ranging  up,  the  one  against  the 
other,  were  the  same;  in  the  one  host  the  sujDporters  of 
the  Crown  and  those  high  in  place,  in  the  other  the 
plain  people  whose  voice  had  as  yet  had  little  weight. 
A  powerful  impulse  was  given  to  the  dissatisfaction, 
when  it  became  known  that  America  was  to  be  taxed 

1  Mellen  Chamberlain    in    Winsor  :    Narrative    and    Critical   Hist,  of 
America,  vol.  vi.,  ch.  i. 


72  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1763 

as  never  before.  The  vast  glory  accruing  to  England 
from  the  successful  Seven  Years'  War  was  accompanied 
by  expenses  and  responsibilities  correspondingly  vast, 
and  the  whole  empire,  America  included,  was  to  feel  a 
burden  quite  new.  A  forerunner  of  what  was  to  come 
was  an  order  to  the  Governor  to  number  the  people. 
This  the  Assembly  set  itself  against,  partly  through  a 
superstitious  fear  that  the  Province  might  suffer  like 
Israel  in  the  day  of  David ;  partly  through  a  well- 
grounded  suspicion  that  it  was  preliminary  to  some- 
thing unpleasant.  What  was  in  store  soon  came  into 
view.  The  practical  free  trade  which  had  been  so  long 
enjoyed,  already  interfered  with,  was  to  come  to  an 
end.  The  Sugar  duties,  in  particular,  for  long  so  nearly 
a  dead-letter,  after  undergoing  some  reduction  were  to 
be  strictly  enforced.  The  positions  of  the  revenue 
officers  were  no  longer  to  be  sinecures.  More  energetic 
prosecution  of  smugglers  was  expected  from  them,  and 
every  available  ship  of  the  British  fleet  was  to  be  held 
ready  to  support.  The  best  trade  of  the  Colonies  was 
thus  about  to  come  to  an  end,  unless  steps  were  taken 
to  save  it.  Jasper  Mauduit,  appointed  agent  in  place 
of  Bollan  shortly  before,  had  proved  quite  inadequate 
to  his  duties.  A  strong  representation  of  the  feelings 
of  Massachusetts,  it  was  felt,  must  be  made  at  head- 
quarters, and  all  eyes  turned  on  Hutchinson  as  the  man 
to  send.  It  is  curious  to  see  how,  when  crises  arise,  the 
carping  as  to  his  absorption  of  offices  becomes  sud- 
denly quiet,  his  fellows  being  only  too  glad  to  put  his 
capable  hands  to  still  new  uses.  In  consistency  with 
the  views  he  has  expressed  in  his  History,  Hutchinson 


17G1]  THE  STAMP-ACT  TUMULTS.  73 

was  in  full  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of  resistance.  He 
believed  that  the  vigorous  trade  with  the  West  Indies 
was  beneficial  to  England  as  well  as  to  the  Colonies, 
and  should  be  encouraged.  When  both  Houses  voted 
strongly  in  his  favor,  he  was  ready  to  go.  Bernard, 
however,  threw  difficulties  in  the  way  :  he  was  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, and  ought  not  to  leave  the  Province 
without  permission  from  England.  While  Hutchinson 
was  hesitating,  Oxenbridge  Thacher,  now  influential  in 
the  Assembly,  took  ground  against  the  appointment  of 
Hutchinson.  He  was  a  willing  agent  of  the  Crown. 
Ought  he,  then,  to  become  also  the  agent  of  the  i3eople, 
whose  grievance  was  with  the  Crown  and  its  ministers  ? 
He  was  well  known  to  be  a  "prerogative  man,"  ready 
to  defer  to  the  home  government  in  important  things  ; 
or  at  least  preferring  to  meet  encroachments  with  re- 
monstrances quite  too  quiet  for  the  denunciatory  mood 
into  which  the  people  were  rising.  Through  Thacher 
the  idea  of  Hutchinson  as  agent  lost  favor  in  the  As- 
sembly, and  before  the  matter  was  settled,  early  in 
1764,  word  came  that  the  duties  were  imposed.  It 
was  too  late  to  send  an  agent ;  with  a  wrathful  em- 
phasis which  was  something  new,  the  cry  of  Otis,  "  No 
taxation  without  representation,"  became  very  frequent 
on  the  lips  of  men. 

The  case  was  indeed  a  hard  one.  The  colonists  could 
lawfully  export  the  chief  products  of  their  industry  to 
no  country  but  Great  Britain,  not  including  Ireland ;  nor 
could  any  foreign  ship  enter  any  colonial  harbor.  No 
ship,  carriage,  or  pack-horse  could  carry  wool,  or  any- 
thing made  from  it,  from  one  Province  to  another.    The 


74  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1764 

trade  of  the  hatter,  the  iron  industry,  were  blotted 
out.  There  were  some  exceptions.  Salt  might  be  im- 
ported from  any  place.  Wines,  too,  could  be  brought 
from  Madeira  and  the  Azores ;  not,  however,  without 
paying  a  duty  in  American  ports  to  the  British  ex- 
chequer. Food,  horses,  and  indentured  servants  might 
be  brouoht  from  Ireland.^  There  were  some  make- 
weights.  The  whaling  industiy  of  the  Colonies,  for 
instance,  was  left  unrestricted,  while  such  duties  were 
placed  upon  whaling  in  the  British  isles  that  it  was 
quite  swept  away.  For  some  important  articles  the 
people  of  Great  Britain  were  restricted  to  American 
sources  of  supply.  The  bonds,  however,  could  scarcely 
be  breathed  under.  In  most  cases.  Great  Britain  was 
not  only  the  sole  market  for  the  products  of  America, 
but  the  only  storehouse  whence  her  supplies  could  be 
drawn.  Worst  of  all,  the  Sugar  Act,  passed  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  British  West  Indies,  drove  at  the  vitals  of 
colonial  prosperity.  The  active,  buoyant-spirited  com- 
munity felt  choked.  Hutchinson  was  heartily  with  his 
countrymen  in  feeling  the  policy  to  be  unjust  and  fool- 
ish ;  and  would  gladly  and  effectively,  no  doubt,  have 
used  his  fine  powers  of  presentment,  at  Court,  in  favor 
of  a  freer  course,  had  the  opportunity  been  granted. 

In  the  fall  of  1764,  Hutchinson,  as  chairman  of  a 
joint  committee  of  the  Council  and  House,  drafted  an 
address,  which  did  not  demand  as  a  right  that  the 
Province  should  be  left  free  to  tax  itself,  but  asked  it 
as  an  indulgence.  He  in  no  way  denies  the  right  of 
Parliament  to  tax,  but  sets  forth  the  impolicy  of  the 

'  Bancroft  :  Hist,  of  the  U.  S.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  4C3,  etc. 


17G4]  THE   STAMP-ACT  TUMULTS.  75 

present  measures.  He  prays  that  the  Colonies  may  be 
reheved  from  the  burden  o£  the  Sugar  Act ;  that  as  to 
internal  taxes  the  Province  may  be  allowed  as  hereto- 
fore to  impose  them  by  its  own  legislature  ;  or  at  least 
that  the  imposition  of  the  taxes  may  be  delayed  until 
the  Colonies  in  general  may  make  a  full  representation 
of  their  views.  This  address  was  unanimously  agreed 
to.^  The  position  here  taken  by  Hutchinson  he  ad- 
hered to  to  the  end.  While  the  Colonies  remained  part 
of  the  British  empire,  he  believed  a  supremacy  in  Par- 
liament must  be  recognized.  Once  recognized,  how- 
ever, he  believed  it  should  be  kept  in  the  background 
as  much  as  possible,  the  Colonies  being  allowed  to  man- 
age themselves.  As  to  parliamentary  supremacy,  Otis 
in  these  days  is  much  more  emphatic  than  Hutchinson  : 
"  The  power  of  Parliament  is  uncontrollable  but  by 
themselves,  and  we  must  obey.  There  would  be  an 
end  of  all  governments,  if  one  or  a  number  of  subordi- 
nate provinces  should  take  ujDon  themselves  so  far  to 
judge  of  the  justice  of  an  act  of  Parliament  as  to  re- 
fuse obedience  to  it.  .  .  .  Forcibly  resisting  the  Parlia- 
ment and  the  King's  laws  is  high  treason.  Therefore 
let  the  Parliament  lay  what  burthens  they  please  upon 
us ;  we  must,  it  is  our  duty  to,  submit,  and  patiently  to 
bear  them  till  they  will  be  pleased  to  relieve  us."  ^  Otis 
conceded  to  Parliament  supremacy,  but  insisted  that  the 
Colonies  should  have  representatives  there.  Hutchin- 
son, while  nowhere  expressing  interest  in  this  idea  of 
representation,  probably  feeling  it  impracticable,  never- 

^  Gordon  :  Hist.  Am.  War,  vol.  i.,  p.  154. 
2  Rights  of  Ike  British  Colonies. 


76  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1764 

theless  concedes  supremacy,  —  that  thought,  however, 
to  be  kept  well  in  the  background  while  the  Colonies 
manaoe  for  themselves. 

o 

Great  Britain  has  really  always  held  to  this  position, 
even  to  the  present  day.  "  Although  the  general  rule 
is  that  the  legislative  assembly  has  the  sole  right  o£ 
imposing  taxes  in  the  Colony,  yet  when  the  imperial 
legislature  chooses  to  impose  taxes,  according  to  the 
rule  of  law  they  have  a  right  to  do  it."  So  decided 
the  English  judge,  Blackburn,  in  1868,  in  a  case  in 
which  Jamaica  was  involved.^  Lecky,  too,  goes  as  far, 
claiming  that  Mansfield's  position,  that  the  Colonies 
were  mrtually  represented  in  Parliament,  thereby  shut- 
ting off  any  infringement  of  Magna  Charta,  was  an 
entirely  reasonable  one.  Parliamentary  supremacy  in 
the  British  empire  is,  indeed,  kept  well  in  the  back- 
ground at  the  present  moment.  Let  any  great  emer- 
gency arise,  however,  such  as  some  peril  to  the  parent 
state,  if  the  Colony  should  remain  apathetic,  or  give 
in  any  way  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy,  the  depen- 
dency would  be  as  arbitrarily  ridden  over  by  the  fleets 
and  armies  of  the  mother  land  as  in  the  days  of  George 
III.  So  long  as  America  remained  dependent,  parlia- 
mentary supremacy  was  necessary.  It  could  only  be 
got  rid  of  by  such  a  declaration  as  that  of  1776 :  for 
such  a  declaration  Hutchinson  was  not  ready ;  nor  was 
any  other  man  in  the  Colonies,  with  one  exception, 
ready  until  many  years  after  this  time. 

When  Bernard  transmitted  the  petition  drafted  by 

1  Yonge  :  Const.  Hist,  of  Eng.,  p.  66.     See,  also,  Todd  :  Pari.  Govern- 
ment in  the  Brit.  Colonies,  1894,  for  fuller  discussions  of  tliis  poiut. 


1764]  THE   STAMP-ACT  TUMULTS.  "^7 

Hutchinson,  lie  wrote  himself,  November  18 :  "  Massa- 
chusetts is  the  only  one  of  the  old  Colonies  that  I  know 
of,  that  enjoys  a  specie  currency.  This  reflects  great 
honor  on  the  Province  itself,  as  it  is  a  great  instance  of 
their  prudence  who  took  hold  of  a  singular  opportu- 
nity to  destroy  their  paper  money,  which  other  Colonies 
who  had  it  equally  in  their  power  neglected.  But  I 
fear  that  if  the  great  sums  which  are  expected  to  be 
raised  in  America  are  to  be  transported  to  Great  Brit- 
ain, there  will  soon  be  an  end  of  the  specie  currency 
of  Massachusetts,  which  will  be  followed  by  a  total  dis- 
couragement for  other  Provinces  to  attempt  the  same 
in  future ;  in  w  hich  case  perpetual  paper  money,  the 
very  negative  power  of  riches,  will  be  the  portion  of 
America."  The  Governor  went  on  to  show  at  leno-th 
the  impolicy  of  the  proposed  levies,  arguing  that  Eng- 
land would  be  benefited  if  colonial  trade  could  be  left 
unrestricted.^ 

It  is  not  becoming  in  our  generation  to  accuse  the 
English  statesmen  of  1764:  of  criminal  folly.  Patriot- 
ism then  indeed  was  but  a  narrow  sentiment.  If  Ensr- 
land  flourished,  other  countries  might  suffer  ;  it  w^as 
quite  legitimate  to  build  up  prosperity  for  one's  own 
land  upon  the  ruined  welfare  of  lands  elsewhere. 
Though  the  Colonies  were  in  a  certain  way  a  part  of 
the  empire,  in  a  certain  way  also  they  were  outside,  — 
members  not  fully  compacted  and  united  with  the  main 
trunk,  —  members  at  whose  expense  the  home  trade 
might  be  aggrandized,  the  dependencies  meanwhile  suf- 
fering loss  and   embarrassment.     Does  the  patriotism 

^  Gordon  :  vol.  i.,  p.  155. 


78  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1764 

which  forces  home  energy  into  unnatural  channels, 
destroying  at  the  same  time  the  industries  of  foreign 
and  dependent  peoples,  quite  careless  whether  or  not 
benefit  shall  come  to  any  country  but  one's  own,  have 
in  it  a  larger  element  of  selfishness,  or  of  some  more 
amiable  princijDle  ?  Such  patriotism  abounded  then, 
and  is  not  yet  out  of  vogue.  The  British  statesmen  of 
1764  acted  according  to  their  fights.  The  administra- 
tion of  the  great  empire  that  had  just  fallen  to  them 
was  a  hard  task,  with  which  they  coped  in  a  way  not 
wise,  but  in  a  way  very  natural.  They  fettered  Amer- 
ica, but  they  meant  at  the  same  time  to  grant  America 
great  compensations.  They  erred,  and  the  consequence 
of  their  error  was  the  dismemberment  of  the  Anolo- 

o 

Saxon  race.  But  as  Freeman  has  said,  it  Avas  quite 
impossible  for  George  III.  and  his  ministers  to  act 
otherwise;  as  on  the  other  hand  it  was  quite  impossible 
for  America  to  act  otherwise. 

Thouo'h  much  had  been  done  to  make  the  Colonies 
justly  incensed,  no  schism  probably  would  have  come  to 
pass  but  for  that  Act,  certainly  one  of  the  most  momen- 
tous in  the  legislative  history  of  the  world,  the  Stamp 
Act.  The  latest  British  historian  of  the  eighteenth 
century,^  while  not  denying  that  the  Stamp  Act  was  a 
grievance,  declares  that  there  have  been  gross  exagger- 
ations. There  is  not  a  fragment  of  evidence  that  any 
English  statesman,  or  any  class  of  the  people,  desh-ed  to 
raise  by  direct  taxation  anything  for  purposes  purely 
English.  The  colonists  were  not  asked  to  contribute 
for  the  navy  that  protected  the  coast,  nor  for  the  Eng- 

1  Lecky  :  vol.  iii.,  p.  341,  etc. 


17G4]  THE  STAMP-ACT  TUMULTS.  79 

lish  debt.  The  colonists  had  gained  by  the  successful 
war  incomparably  more  than  any  other  British  subjects. 
Until  the  destruction  of  the  French  power,  a  hand 
armed  with  a  rifle  or  a  tomahawk  seemed  hard  by  the 
threshold  of  every  New  England  home.  The  threaten- 
ing hand  was  paralyzed;  at  the  same  time,  since  the 
fringe  of  plantations  on  the  coast  became  now^  immeas- 
urably extended  westward  by  the  addition  of  forest 
territories,  their  title  to  which  there  was  no  one  lono-er 
to  dispute,  their  wealth  and  dignity  were  greatly  in- 
creased. They  were  only  asked  to  bear  their  share  in 
the  burden  of  the  empire,  by  contributing  to  the  sum 
required  for  maintaining  ten  thousand  men,  intended 
primarily  for  their  own  defense  against  Indians  and 
French.  If  only  the  Assemblies  could  have  been  in- 
duced of  themselves  to  make  the  necessary  grant ! 
The  attempt  was  not  tried ;  perhaps  if  it  had  been  tried 
it  would  have  failed.  But  here  came  in  the  grievance : 
the  tax  was  demanded  by  a  body  in  which  there  was  no 
representation  of  the  people  taxed,  and  "  that  taxation 
and  representation  are  inseparably  connected,  lay  at  the 
root  of  the  English  conception  of  political  liberty."  ^ 
The  right  of  Parliament  to  regulate  commerce  by  im- 
posts had  not  been  questioned,  though  the  wisdom  of 
the  measures  resorted  to  was  severely  criticised,  and  the 
Colonies  were  growing  restive.  Now,  however,  besides 
these  external  taxes,  an  internal  tax  was  to  be  levied,  a 
tax  for  revenue,  of  a  kind  heretofore  only  imposed  by 
the  lower  Houses.  Of  course  it  brouo;ht  an  outburst. 
The  well-meaning  Grenville  intended  to  proceed  in 

'  Lecky  :  vol.  iii.,  p.  353. 


80  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1764 

the  kindest  way.  He  explained  to  tlie  agents  of  the 
different  Colonies  the  difficulties  of  his  situation.  Be- 
fore the  war,  the  American  civil  and  military  establish- 
ments had  cost  only  £70,000  a  year.  In  176-1:,  they 
cost  £350,000  :  this  additional  expense  was  incurred 
on  American  account,  and  he  thought  America  should 
contribute  toward  it.  He  claimed  that  the  Stamp  tax 
was  the  easiest  to  manage ;  also  the  most  equitable  that 
could  be  devised,  since  it  would  spare  the  poor  and  fall 
upon  property.  "  I  am  not,  however,  set  upon  this 
tax,"  he  said,  "  If  the  Americans  dislike  it,  and  prefer 
any  other  method,  I  shall  be  content.  Write  therefore 
to  your  several  Colonies,  and  if  they  choose  any  other 
mode,  I  shall  be  satisfied,  provided  the  money  be  but 
raised."  ^  A  timely  concession  of  a  few  seats  in  the 
upper  and  lower  Houses  of  Parliament  would  have  set 
at  rest  the  whole  dispute.  Franklin  had  suggested  it 
ten  years  before,  anticipating  even  Otis  ;  Grenville  was 
quite  ready  to  favor  it ;  Adam  Smith  advocated  it. 
Why  did  the  scheme  fail?  In  these  days  a  man  was 
rising  into  provincial  note,  who  was  soon  to  show  a 
heat  truly  fanatical  in  favor  of  an  idea  quite  inconsis- 
tent with  this,  —  Samuel  Adams.  He  from  the  first 
seems  to  have  felt  that  representation  of  the  Colonies  in 
Parliament  was  quite  impracticable,  or  if  gained,  would 
result  in  no  benefit  to  the  Colonies  ;  their  influence 
in  deliberation  would  always  be  too  feeble  to  avail. 
There  was  no  fit  state  for  them  but  independence.  His 
voice  at  first  was  but  as  a  solitary  cry  in  the  midst  of  a 
tempest,  but  it  prevailed  mightily  in  the  end. 

1  Lecky  :  vol.  iii.,  p.  347. 


1765]  THE   STAMP-ACT  TUMULTS.  81 

Nothino:  was  said  or  done  after  the  announcement  of 
the  impending  Stamp  tax  to  make  GrenAilIe  think  bet- 
ter of  his  plan.  England  was  apathetic  ;  some  of  the 
colonial  agents  favored  it ;  even  Franklin,  then  agent 
for  Pennsylvania,  quietly  accepted  it,  thinking,  prob- 
ably, that  representation  might  wait  for  a  more  conven- 
ient time;  and  in  his  canny  way  he  took  steps  to  have 
a  friend  appointed  stamp-distributor  in  his  Province. 
In  America,  to  be  sure,  there  was  tumult.  From  the 
"  flame  of  fire  "  that  John  Adams  describes  so  well  as 
burning:  to  such  effect  in  the  case  of  the  Writs  of  As- 
sistance,  Boston,  of  necessity,  went  up  in  conflagra- 
tion. One  royal  Governor,  too,  no  other  than  Bernard, 
was  strongly  opposed  to  it,  winning  warm  praise  from 
Lord  Camden,  the  most  liberal  of  the  English  peers. 
Hutchinson,  also,  though  less  hot  than  Otis,  stood  on 
the  same  ground  with  him,  declaring  with  decision,  of 
this  and  other  taxes  :  "  It  cannot  be  good  policy  to  tax 
the  Americans  :  it  will  prove  prejudicial  to  their  natural 
interests.  You  will  lose  more  than  you  will  gain. 
Britain  reaps  the  profit  of  all  their  trade  and  of  the 
increase  of  their  substance."  ^  But  the  Colonies  were  far 
away,  and  of  little  account.  After  mature  considera- 
tion and  consultation  with  representatives  of  all  02)in- 
ions,  Grenville  introduced  his  measure,  honestly  sup- 
posing it  thoroughly  reasonable.  It  passed  late  at 
night,  in  a  thin  House,  which  paid  grudging  attention 
to  the  protests  of  Barr^.  In  April,  1765,  it  was  known 
in  Boston  that  it  had  become  law,  and  the  doughty 
little  town  received  the  news  with  an  outburst. 

^  Gordon  :  Hist,  of  A  7n.  Rev. 


82  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1765 

A  man  forty-two  years  old,  but  already  gray,  and 
witli  a  physical  infirmity  which  kept  his  head  and  his 
hands  shaking  like  those  of  a  paralytic,  had  just  come 
upon  the  stage.  He  was  a  man  of  broken  fortunes,  — 
a  ne'er-do-weel  in  his  private  business,  a  failure  as  tax- 
collector,  the  only  public  office  he  had  thus  far  under- 
taken to  discharge.  He  had  long,  however,  been  an 
effective  political  writer  in  the  newspapers,  and  pos- 
sessed marked  power  in  the  management  of  the  Town- 
Meeting,  in  which  the  life  of  the  community  centred. 
In  May,  1764,  as  one  of  the  committee  appointed  to 
"  instruct "  the  representatives  chosen  for  that  year,  he 
had  produced  a  document  no  more  appreciated  at  the 
time  than  was  the  character  of  the  Stamp  Act  in  Eng- 
land that  same  year,  but  destined  to  make  an  epoch. 
Samuel  Adams  submitted  his  instructions,  in  behalf  of 
himself  and  his  colleagues.  May  24.  They  contained 
the  first  public  denial  of  the  right  of  the  British  Par- 
liament to  put  in  operation  Grenville's  scheme  of  the 
Stamp  Act,  just  announced;  and  the  first  suggestion  of 
a  union  of  the  Colonies  for  a  redress  of  grievances. 
The  important  but  questionable  position  was  also  stated 
that  the  judges  should  be  dependent  for  their  salaries 
on  the  Assembly  ;  moreover,  that  if  burdens  were  not 
removed,  agreements  would  be  entered  into  to  import 
no  goods  from  Britain,  this  by  way  of  retaliation  upon 
British  manufacturers.  We  shall  see  how  momentous 
these  suo-o^estions  became.  The  man  that  made  them 
was  fast  rising  into  great  influence,  though  his  ways 
were  quiet,  and  the  fact  of  his  leadership  was  thus  far 
little  recognized.     Before  1765  expired,  the  death  of 


1765]  THE  STAMP-ACT  TUMULTS.  83 

Oxenbridge  Thaclier  was  to  open  the  path  for  him  to  a 
seat  ill  the  Assembly.  Ah-eady  he  was  superseding  the 
influence  of  Otis,  though  in  stealthy  ways,  of  which 
neither  Otis  nor  those  who  made  an  idol  of  him  were 
sensible,  putting  into  the  minds  of  men,  in  the  place 
of  the  ideas  for  which  Otis  stood,  radical  conceptions 
which   were  to   clianoe   in  due  time  the  whole  future 

o 

of  the  world. 

The  "  Virginia  Resolutions,"  through  which  Patrick 
Henry  first  acquired  a  continental  fame,  voted  by  the 
House  of  Burgesses  in  May,  a  month  after  the  coming 
of  the  news  that  the  Stamp  Act  had  passed,  denied 
very  definitely  the  authority  of  Parliament  to  tax 
America.  At  first  men  recoiled  from  them.  Otis  was 
reported  to  have  condemned  them  publicly  in  King 
Street,  a  rumor  no  doubt  well  founded  ;  for  as  we  have 
seen,  he  fully  admitted  the  supremacy  of  Parliament. 
The  temper  of  the  time,  however,  soon  changed,  and 
Patrick  Henry's  words  were  adopted  as  expressing  the 
true  sentiments  of  America.  A  congress  was  appointed 
to  take  place  in  New  York  the  first  Tuesday  in  October, 
to  consider  the  situation,  delegates  to  which  were  Tim- 
othy Ruggles,  an  able  and  influential  veteran  of  the 
French  wars,  who  in  the  tunes  now  beginning,  through 
loyalty  to  the  Crown,  was  about  to  sink  out  of  sight 
a  brilliant  fame  won  through  bravery  and  much  hon- 
orable service  ;  Oliver  Partridge,  a  man  of  mark  in  the 
western  counties ;  and,  of  course,  James  Otis.  Now, 
too,  the  threatened  non-importation  arguments  began 
to  play  their  part.  The  use  of  mourning  was  given 
up.     No  lamb  was  to  be  eaten,  the  abstinence  being 


84  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1765 

designed  to  favor  the  production  of  wool.  Whatever 
was  Hkely  to  balk  the  English  merchants,  in  whose 
interest  it  was  believed  the  restrictions  upon  colonial 
trade  and  manufacture  were  powerfully  operating,  — 
all  such  measures  were  eagerly  canvassed  and  prepared 
for  adoption. 

The  position  of  Hutchinson  was  a  most  trying  one. 
He  favored  neither  Stamp  Act  nor  Sugar  Act.  The 
whole  course  of  government  he  disapproved ;  he  had 
been  ready  to  cross  the  ocean  to  remonstrate  for  the 
Colony  against  the  impolitic  treatment.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  disloyal  tone  which  daily  grew  more  rife  about 
him  was  utterly  against  his  mind.  He  saw  no  outcome 
for  it  but  independence,  a  most  wise  forecasting  of  the 
situation  ;  in  fact,  there  was  no  middle  ground.  Inde- 
pendence seemed  to  him  and  to  every  man  then,  except 
Sam  Adams,  a  calamity.  If  that  was  to  be  avoided, 
there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  admit  the  supremacy  of 
Parliament.  Otis  and  Franklin,  with  their  scheme  for 
parliamentary  representation  of  the  Colonies,  were  pro- 
posing something  quite  impracticable.  So  Hutchinson 
felt ;  so  Franklin  was  abeady  coming  to  feel ;  into 
the  same  belief  Sam  Adams  was  about  to  swing  New 
England  in  general.  If  only  the  home  government 
would  be  forbearing  and  keep  parliamentary  supremacy 
well  in  the  background  !  If  only  the  Colonies  would  be 
patient  and  think  they  were  virtually  represented,  even 
though  the  Town-Meetings  sent  no  direct  delegates  to 
St.  Stephens  !  So  in  these  times  Hutchinson  sighed 
and  prayed.  But  the  Province  to  which  he  had  been 
like  a  father  was  growing  away  from  him,  and  before 


1765]  THE  STAMP-ACT  TUMULTS.  85 

the  summer  ended,  he  was  to  receive  a  blow  as  ruthless 
and  ungrateful  as  it  was  possible  to  administer.^ 

Before  the  disgraceful  incident  to  which  reference  is 
made  engages  us,  it  is  proper  to  mention  a  certain  ac- 
tivity which  the  Chief  Justice,  busy  though  he  was  in 
so  many  places  in  behalf  of  the  public,  had  found  time 
to  carry  forward.  In  1764  was  published,  in  Boston, 
the  first  volume  of  his  "History  of  Massachusetts  Bay," 
a  carefully  studied  work  quite  unparalleled  in  the  meagre 
colonial  literature,  —  a  work  which  still  is,  and  will 
always  remain,  of  the  first  authority  respecting  the  be- 
ginnings of  New  England.  In  the  following  year  this 
first  volume  was  republished  in  England.  In  1767 
came  volume  ii.,  which,  like  its  fellow,  at  once  ap- 
peared in  an  English  reprint.  Writing,  January  18, 
1765,  to  an  English  friend  who  had  criticised  his  abun- 
dant use  of  footnotes,  he  says  :  "  I  am  ashamed  to  give 
you  the  reason  of  this  fault,  but  really  it  was  to  save 
me  trouble,  finding  it  easier  to  insert  things  which  oc- 
curred to  me  after  I  had  passed  the  time  they  related  to 
in  this  way,  than  by  altering  the  page.  .  .  .  Indeed,  I 
wonder  more  fault  is  not  found  with  the  whole  per- 
formance. I  think  from  my  beginning  the  work  until 
I  had  completed  it,  which  was  about  twelve  months,  I 
never  had  time  to  write  two  sheets  at  a  sitting  without 
avocations  by  pubhc  business,  but  was  forced  to  steal  a 

^  "  I  ever  thought  the  taxing  of  America  by  Parliament  not  advisable, 
but  as  a  servant  of  the  Crown  I  thought  myself  bound  to  discountenance 
the  violent  opposition  made  to  the  Stamp  Act,  as  it  led  to  the  denial  of 
Parliament's  authority  in  all  cases  whatsoever."  Hutchinson  wrote  this 
in  England,  May  4,  177G.     Diary  and  Letters,  vol.  ii.,  p.  58. 


86  THE   LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1765 

little  time  in  the  morning  and  evening  while  I  was  in 
town,  and  then  leave  it  for  weeks  together,  so  that  I 
found  it  difficult  to  keep  any  plan  in  my  mind.  I  have 
an  aversion  to  transcribing,  and  except  the  three  or 
four  first  sheets,  and  now  and  then  a  page  in  which  I 
had  made  some  mistake,  the  rest  of  the  work  is  rough, 
as  I  first  wrote  it.  ...  I  have  no  talent  at  painting  or 
describing  characters.  I  am  sensible  it  requires  great 
delicacy.  My  safest  way  was  to  avoid  them  and  let 
facts  speak  for  themselves."  ^ 

This  letter  gives  us  about  the  only  information  ex- 
tant as  to  the  composition  of  this  important  literary 
monument.  Part  of  the  manuscript  is  preserved  in  the 
Massachusetts  Archives.  The  fair  page  is  perfectly 
legible,  written  usually  with  few  erasures  or  interlinea- 
tions. The  pen  moved  smoothly  and  rapidly,  it  is  plain, 
following  the  promptings  of  a  clear  and  alert  intellect. 
He  estimates  correctly  his  limitation.  He  has  "  no 
talent  at  painting  or  describing  characters,"  and  in  his 
earlier  volumes  seldom  attempts  it.  Such  interest  as 
attaches  to  the  work  of  Clarendon,  that  noble  portrait- 
gallery  within  which  hang  the  great  men  of  the  Crom- 
wellian  time,  the  Cavaliers  in  their  lace  and  love-locks, 
with  faces  now  frivolous  or  sensual,  now  aglow  with 
self-sacrificing  loyalty,  —  the  Puritans  in  their  buff  and 
steel,  now  harsh  and  canting,  now  full  of  astuteness  or 
virile  power,  —  no  interest  of  this  kind  attaches  to  the 

*  From  the  autograph,  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  126.  Mr.  Charles 
Deane,  iu  a  Hutchinson  Bibliography,  privately  printed  (H.  O.  Houghton 
&  Co.,  1857),  gives  a  careful  account  of  the  different  editions  and  the 
various  fortunes  of  this  book. 


1765]  THE  STAMP-ACT  TUMULTS.  87 

work  of  Hutcliinson.  In  his  third  volume,  written 
twenty  years  later,  not  puhlished  till  1828,^  more  than 
forty  years  after  his  death,  he  does  indeed  paint  the 
portraits  of  his  contemporaries,  the  men  who  bore  him 
down  after  the  fiercest  possible  struggle.  The  heat  of 
the  fight  is  still  in  the  heart  beating  behind  the  limn- 
ing pen.  Otis,  Sam  Adams,  Hancock,  Bowdoin,  are 
unattractive  figures  in  his  picture  ;  still  the  trait-draw- 
ing is  by  no  means  without  candor,  and  one  wonders 
that  the  picture  is  no  darker.  In  the  main,  he  is  faii^ 
mmded,  and  in  the  circumstances  surprisingly  calm. 
Nor  is  there  in  the  volumes  any  trace  of  picturesque  nar- 
rative, —  graphic  putting  before  one  of  critical  events 
of  the  past,  —  that  gift  so  marked  in  his  famous  towns- 
men of  the  succeeding  century,  Prescott,  Motley,  and 
Parkman.  We  must  go  still  farther  in  the  Hst  of  limita- 
tions :  his  work  is  in  no  sense  philosophical.  Moreover, 
though  humor  is  a  quality  not  essential  in  a  historian,  yet 
Hutchinson's  want  of  humor  is  really  remarkable.  The 
"  History  of  Massachusetts  Bay  "  is  unmistakably  a 
sad-colored  performance,  unreHeved  by  any  purple  patch 
of  brilliant  description,  by  any  sparkle  of  wit,  or  any 
deft  portrayals  of  men.  Grave  defects  these.  Yet  the 
writer  has  studied  his  authorities  thoroughly,  after 
gathering  them  industriously.  His  presentment  is  al- 
ways clear  and  dignified ;  his  judgments  of  men  and 
events  are  usually  just.  It  is  the  work  of  a  thought- 
ful brain,  whose  comments  on  politics,  finance,  religion, 
the    superstitions    and    aberrations    of    unenlightened 

^  Hon.  James  Savage  brought  about  the  publication,  after  urging  it 
through  more  than  ten  years  upon  the  Governor's  descendants. 


88  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1765 

men,  are  full  of  intelligence  and  also  full  of  humanity. 
Thomas  Hutchinson's  best  titles  to  fame  are  certainly 
not  gained  from  his  writings.  He  achieved  enough 
here,  however,  to  merit  gratitude.^ 

A  letter  of  this  same  year  illustrates  his  kindly  na- 
ture. June  15,  1765,  to  Robert  Wilson :  "  I  am  the 
patron  of  those  people  who  cannot  helj)  themselves, 
and  this  obliges  me  to  ask  another  favor  of  you  for  a 
poor  widow,  who  supposes  her  husband  had  money  due 
to  him  in  England.  She  says  the  £60  mentioned  in 
the  inclosed  letter  was  never  received  by  her  husband, 
whose  name  was  William  Bewley,  and  she  supposes 
wages  or  prize-money  was  due  to  him  on  board  the  man- 
of-war.  Perhaps  by  writing  to  John  Mooney,  at  Ports- 
mouth, and  inquiring  at  the  office,  you  may  find  some- 
thing which  can  be  received  for  the  woman,  who  will 
then  send  j^roper  powers." 

Here,  too,  in  a  letter  to  Colonel  Israel  Williams,  of 
Hatfield,  is  a  dignified  and  candid  utterance,  April  26, 
1765  :  "  As  for  those  men  you  talk  of  and  wish  for, 
they  are  only  to  be  found  in  Plato's  Commonwealth. 
We  that  fancy  we  are  most  like  them,  although  we 
durst  not  pursue  any  measure  which  appears  to  us  to 

^  "  The  researches  of  Governor  Hutchinson  into  the  early  annals  of 
Massachusetts  are  of  the  highest  historical  value.  He  had  opportunities 
of  access  to  original  papers  such  as  no  person  now  possesses.  He  had 
the  tastes,  the  capacity  for  close  application  and  research,  the  judicial 
understanding,  and  the  freedom  from  prejudice  and  partisanship  which 
characterize  the  genuine  historian.  His  style,  if  not  always  elegant,  is 
clear  and  simple,  and  singularly  free  from  that  sensational  and  rhetorical 
method  of  statement  which  is  the  bane  of  much  of  the  historical  writing 
of  the  present  day."  W.  F.  Poole,  Introduction  to  Hutchinson's  Witch- 
craft Delusions  of  1692,  privately  printed,  1870. 


17G5]  THE   STAMP-ACT  TUMULTS.  89 

be  against  the  piiblick  good,  yet  we  see  things  many 
times  through  a  false  medium,  and  are  balanced,  though 
insensibly,  by  one  prejudice  and  another.  Perhaps  the 
case  is  the  same  with  some  who  are  opposite  to  us  in 
public  affau's,  who  vote  quite  different  from  us,  and  are 
under  insensible  bias  the  other  way.  This  consideration 
should  tend  to  keep  us  from  discontent  and  disturb- 
ance in  our  minds  when  measures  are  pursued  contrary 
to  what  appears  to  us  to  be  right.  Possibly  we  may 
be  mistaken."  ^ 

After  the  adoption  in  Massachusetts  of  Patrick 
Henry's  resolves,  the  people  brooding  over  the  injury 
they  had  received  in  the  Stamp  Act  became  fiercer  in 
temper.  The  rough  population  which  abounded  about 
the  wharves  and  shipyards  grew  riotous,  and,  with  the 
usual  want  of  discrimination  shown  by  mobs,  were  not 
slow  to  lift  their  hands  against  even  their  best  friends. 
Andrew  Oliver,  brother-in-law  of  Hutchinson  and  Sec- 
retary of  the  Province,  had  without  his  solicitation  been 
appointed  Stamp-Collector,  though  he  did  not  approve 
the  Act.  He  was  hung  in  efiigy,  a  drunken  crowd 
carrying  the  effigy  through  the  Town-House,  even  while 
the  Governor  and  Council  were  in  session  in  the  cham- 
ber above.  Oliver's  house  was  attacked,  until  at  last  he 
made  public  recantation.  The  houses  of  the  Customs 
and  Admii-alty  officials  were  also  attacked,  the  disturb- 
ances culminating  in  an  extraordinary  outrage.  As 
to  Andrew  Oliver,  John  Adams  exclaims :  "  Has  not  the 

^  These  valuable  papers,  now  in  possession  of  the  Massachusetts  His- 
torical Society,  I  was  allowed  to  examine  and  quote,  by  Dr.  Samuel  A. 
Green. 


90  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1765 

blind   unclistinguisliing   rage   of  the   rabble  done  that 
gentleman  irreparable  injustice?  "  ^ 

Why  Hutchinson  should  have  fallen  into  great  dis- 
favor, it  is  not  easy  to  say.  Gordon,  a  writer  of  Whig 
leanings,  but  a  fair-minded  witness  of  all  that  occurred, 
suofsrests  that  there  were  some  who  still  entertained 
rancor  toward  him  for  doing  away  with  paper  money 
in  1748 : "  moreover,  "  that  the  mob  was  led  on  to 
the  house  by  a  secret  influence,  with  a  view  to  the 
destruction  of  certain  papers  known  to  be  there,  and 
which,  it  is  thought,  would  have  proved  that  the  grant 
to  the  New  Plymouth  Company  on  Kennebec  River 
was  different  from  what  was  contended  for  by  some 
claimants."^  Hutchinson  himself  speaks,  as  having 
given  rise  to  animosity  against  him,  of  certain  deposi- 
tions in  the  interest  of  government  taken  before  him 
in  his  character  of  Chief  Justice,  to  which  his  name 
was  signed.  They  were  purely  official  acts  :  for  the 
depositions  he  had  no  responsibility  whatever  ;  but  the 
unreasoning  mass  confused  him  with  others.  There 
was  nothinof  in  his  course  at  the  time  of  the  Writs  of 
Assistance  at  which  the  people  needed  to  feel  aggrieved. 
He  was  with  the  people  in  opposing  the  external  taxes ; 
also  in  disapproving  the  Stamp  Act.  Now  that  they 
were  imposed,  he  to  be  sure  thought  nothing  would 
answer  but  submission  ;  but  certainly  in  his  declara- 
tions here  he  was  nothing  like  so  emphatic  as  James 

^  John  Adams's  Diary,  Aug.  15, 1765. 

2  His  position,  in  1762,  on  the  currency,  was,  as  we  have  seen,  not 
popular. 

^  Hist,  of  Am.  War,  vol.  I.,  p.  180. 


1765]  THE  STAMP-ACT  TUMULTS.  91 

Otis,  -who  still  remained  the  popular  idol.  Otis  had 
said  in  May  :  "  It  is  the  duty  of  all  humbly  and  silently 
to  acquiesce  in  all  the  decisions  of  the  supreme  legisla- 
ture. Nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  in  a  thousand  will 
never  entertain  the  thought  but  of  submission  to  our 
Sovereign  and  to  the  authority  of  Parliament  in  all 
possible  contingencies." 

In  jDrivate  talk  he  was  more  vigorous  than  in  his 
formal  utterances.  "  Hallowell  tells  stories  about  Otis. 
.  .  .  Otis  told  him,  he  says,  that  the  Parliament  had 
a  right  to  tax  the  Colonies,  and  he  was  a  d — d  fool 
who  denied  it ;  and  that  this  people  never  would  be 
quiet  till  we  had  a  Council  from  home,  till  our  charter 
was  taken  away,  and  till  we  had  regular  troops  quar- 
tered upon  us."  ^  Hutchinson  had  never  expressed  his 
thoughts  so  definitely  as  that. 

He  was,  however,  made  a  mark  for  the  most  unmeas- 
ured outrage.  Here  is  the  story  in  the  words  of  the 
victim  taken  from  the  autograph. 

TO    RICHARD   JACKSON. 

«  Boston,  Aug.  30,  1765. 
"  My  dear  Sir,  —  I  came  from  my  house  at  Milton, 
the  26  in  the  morning.  After  dinner  it  was  whisj^ered 
in  town  there  would  be  a  mob  at  night,  and  that  Pax- 
ton,  Hallowell,  the  custom-house,  and  admiralty  officers' 
houses  would  be  attacked ;  but  my  friends  assured  me 
that  the  rabble  were  satisfied  with  the  insult  I  had 
received  and  that  I  was  become  rather  popular.  In 
the  evening,  whilst  I  was  at  supper  and  my   children 

1  John  Adams's  Diary,  Jan.  16, 1766. 


92  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1765 

round  me,  somebody  ran  in  and  said  the  mob  were 
coming.  I  directed  my  children  to  fly  to  a  secure 
place,  and  shut  up  my  house  as  I  had  done  before,  in- 
tending not  to  quit  it ;  but  my  eldest  daughter  repented 
her  leaving  me,  hastened  back,  and  protested  she  would 
not  quit  the  house  unless  I  did.  I  could  n't  stand 
against  this,  and  withdrew  with  her  to  a  neighboring 
house,  where  I  had  been  but  a  few  minutes  before  the 
hellish  crew  fell  upon  my  house  with  the  rage  of  devils, 
and  in  a  moment  with  axes  split  down  the  doors  and 
entered.  My  son  being  in  the  great  entry  heard  them 
cry :  '  Damn  him,  he  is  upstairs,  we  '11  have  him.' 
Some  ran  immediately  as  high  as  the  top  of  the  house, 
others  filled  the  rooms  below  and  cellars,  and  others  re- 
mained without  the  house  to  be  employed  there.  Mes- 
sag-es  soon  came  one  after  another  to  the  house  where 
I  was,  to  inform  me  the  mob  were  coming  in  pursuit 
of  me,  and  I  was  obliged  to  retire  through  yards  and 
gardens  to  a  house  more  remote,  where  I  remained 
until  4  o'clock,  by  which  time  one  of  the  best  finished 
houses  in  the  Province  had  nothing  remaining  but  the 
bare  walls  and  floors.  Not  contented  with  tearing  off 
all  the  wainscot  and  hangings,  and  splitting  the  doors 
to  pieces,  they  beat  down  the  partition  walls ;  and 
although  that  alone  cost  them  near  two  hours,  they  cut 
down  the  cupola  or  lanthorn,  and  they  began  to  take 
the  slate  and  boards  from  the  roof,  and  were  prevented 
only  by  the  approaching  daylight  from  a  total  demoli- 
tion of  the  building.  The  garden-house  was  laid  flat, 
and  all  my  trees,  etc.,  broke  down  to  the  ground. 

"  Such  ruin  was  never  seen  in  America.    Besides  my 


1765]  THE  STAMP-ACT  TTOIULTS.  93 

plate  and  family  pictures,  household  furniture  of  every 
kind,  my  own,  my  children's,  and  servants'  apparel,  they 
carried  off  about  .£900  sterling  in  money,  and  emptied 
the  house  of  everything  whatsoever,  except  a  part  of  the 
kitchen  furniture,  not  leaving  a  single  book  or  paper  in 
it,  and  have  scattered  or  destroyed  all  the  manuscripts 
and  other  papers  I  had  been  collecting  for  thirty  years 
together,  besides  a  great  number  of  public  papers  in 
my  custody.  The  evening  being  warm,  I  had  undressed 
me  and  put  on  a  thin  camlet  surtout  over  my  waistcoat- 
The  next  morning,  the  weather  being  changed,  I  had 
not  clothes  enough  in  my  possession  to  defend  me  from 
the  cold,  and  was  obliged  to  borrow  from  my  friends. 
Many  articles  of  clothing  and  a  good  part  of  my  plate 
have  since  been  picked  up  in  different  quarters  of  the 
town,  but  the  furniture  in  general  was  cut  to  pieces 
before  it  was  thrown  out  of  the  house,  and  most  of  the 
beds  cut  open,  and  the  feathers  thrown  out  of  the  win- 
dows. The  next  evening,  I  intended  with  my  children 
to  Milton,  but  meeting  two  or  three  small  parties  of  the 
ruffians,  who  I  suppose  had  concealed  themselves  in 
the  country,  and  my  coachman  hearing  one  of  them 
say,  '  There  he  is  ! '  my  daughters  were  terrified  and 
said  they  shoidd  never  be  safe,  and  I  was  forced  to 
shelter  them  that  nioht  at  the  Castle. 

"  The  encouragers  of  the  first  mob  never  intended 
matters  should  go  this  length,  and  the  people  in  gen- 
eral expressed  the  utmost  detestation  of  this  unparalleled 
outrage,  and  I  wish  they  could  be  convinced  what  in- 
finite hazard  there  is  of  the  most  terrible  consequences 
from  such  demons,  when  they  are  let  loose  in  a  govern- 


94  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1765 

ment  where  there  is  not  constant  authority  at  hand 
sufficient  to  suppress  them.  I  am  tokl  the  government 
here  will  make  me  a  compensation  for  my  own  and  my 
family's  loss,  which  I  think  cannot  be  much  less  than 
<£3,000  sterling.  I  am  not  sure  that  they  will.  If  they 
should  not,  it  will  be  too  heavy  for  me,  and  I  must 
humbly  apply  to  his  majesty  in  whose  service  I  am  a 
sufferer ;  but  this,  and  a  much  greater  sum  would  be 
an  insufficient  compensation  for  the  constant  distress 
and  anxiety  of  mind  I  have  felt  for  some  time  past, 
and  must  feel  for  months  to  come.  You  cannot  con- 
ceive the  wretched  state  we  are  in.  Such  is  the  resent- 
ment of  the  people  against  the  Stamp-Duty,  that  there 
can  be  no  dependence  upon  the  General  Court  to  take 
any  steps  to  enforce,  or  rather  advise,  to  the  payment 
of  it.  On  the  other  hand,  such  will  be  the  effects  of 
not  submitting  to  it,  that  all  trade  must  cease,  all 
courts  fall,  and  all  authority  be  at  an  end.  Must  not 
the  ministry  be  excessively  embarrassed  ?  On  the  one 
hand,  it  will  be  said,  if  concessions  are  made,  the  Par- 
liament endanger  the  loss  of  their  authority  over  the 
Colony  :  on  the  other  hand,  if  external  force  should  be 
used,  there  seems  to  be  danger  of  a  total  lasting  aliena- 
tion of  affection.  Is  there  no  alternative?  May  the 
infinitely  wise  God  direct  you."  ^ 

Here  is  another  graphic  contemporary  picture  from 
an  authority  who  soon  after  becomes  an  interesting 
figure.     Josiah    Quincy,   then    twenty-one   years    old, 

^  M.A.  Hist.,  vol.  rxvi.,  p.  146,  etc.  The  picture  of  Hutchinson's  house 
is  from  a  cut  in  the  American  Magazine,  February,  1836.  His  minute 
inventory  of  the  property  destroyed  is  given  in  Appendix  A. 


2!  ^ 

'J  = 
z  i 


1765]  THE  STAMP-ACT  TUMULTS.  95 

writing  in  his  diary,  August  27,  1765,  says  that  Hutch- 
inson's life,  "  it  is  more  than  probable,  was  saved  by 
his  giving  way  to  his  eldest  daughter  and  leaving  the 
house."  Quincy  describes  the  coming  into  Court  next 
day  of  the  stripped  Chief  Justice,  "  his  look  big  with 
the  greatest  anxiety,  clothed  in  a  manner  which  would 
have  excited  compassion  from  the  hardest  heart,  though 
his  dress  had  not  been  strikingly  contrasted  by  the 
other  judges  and  bar,  who  appeared  in  their  robes. 
Such  a  man,  in  such  a  station,  thus  habited,  with  tears 
starting  from  his  eyes,  and  a  countenance  which 
strongly  told  the  inward  anguish  of  his  soul,  —  what 
must  an  audience  have  felt,  whose  compassion  had  be- 
fore been  moved  by  what  they  knew  he  had  suffered, 
when  they  heard  him  pronounce  the  following  words,  in 
a  manner  which  the  agitation  of  his  mind  dictated  :  — 

"  ^  Gextlemen,  —  There  not  being  a  quorum  of  the 
Court  without  me,  I  am  obliged  to  appear.  Some 
apology  is  necessary  for  my  dress ;  indeed,  I  had 
no  other.  Destitute  of  everything,  —  no  other  shirt ; 
no  other  garment  but  what  I  have  on ;  and  not  one  in 
my  whole  family  in  a  better  situation  than  myself. 
The  distress  of  a  whole  family  around  me,  young  and 
tender  infants  hanging  about  me,  are  infinitely  more 
insupportable  than  what  I  feel  for  myself,  though  I  am 
obliged  to  borrow  part  of  this  clothing. 

" '  Sensible  that  I  am  innocent,  that  all  the  charges 
against  me  are  false,  I  can't  help  feehng :  and  although 
I  am  not  obliged  to  give  an  answer  to  all  the  questions 
that  may  be  put  me  by  every  lawless  person,  yet  I  call 
God  to  witness,  —  and  I  would  not,  for  a  thousand 
worlds,  call  my  Maker  to  witness  to  falsehood,  —  I  say 


96  THE   LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1765 

I  call  my  Maker  to  witness,  that  I  never,  in  New 
England  or  Old,  in  Great  Britain  or  America,  neither 
directly  nor  indirectly,  was  aiding,  assisting,  or  support- 
ing —  in  the  least  promoting  or  encouraging  —  what  is 
commonly  called  the  Stamp  Act ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
did  all  in  my  power,  and  strove  as  much  as  in  me  lay, 
to  prevent  it.  This  is  not  declared  through  timidity ; 
for  I  have  nothing  to  fear.  They  can  only  take  away 
my  hfe,  which  is  of  but  little  value  when  deprived  of 
all  its  comforts,  all  that  was  dear  to  me,  and  nothing 
surrounding  me  but  the  most  piercing  distress. 

" '  I  hope  the  eyes  of  the  people  will  be  opened,  that 
they  will  see  how  easy  it  is  for  some  designing,  wicked 
man  to  spread  false  reports,  to  raise  suspicions  and 
jealousies  in  the  minds  of  the  populace,  and  enrage 
them  against  the  innocent ;  but  if  guilty,  this  is  not 
the  way  to  proceed.  The  laws  of  our  country  are 
open  to  punish  those  who  have  offended.  This  de- 
stroying all  peace  and  order  of  the  community,  —  all 
will  feel  its  effects  ;  and  I  hope  all  will  see  how  easily 
the  people  may  be  deluded,  inflamed  and  carried  away 
with  madness  against  an  innocent  man. 

"  *I  pray  God  give  us  better  hearts! '  " 

The  Court  then  adjourned  to  October  15.  Quincy 
goes  on  in  a  boyish  declamation  which  hints  vaguely  at 
the  supposed  reasons  for  Hutchinson's  sudden  unpopu- 
larity, his  outburst  reflecting  vividly  the  hot  passion 
rife  in  the  town  that  August  day. 

"  Learn  wisdom  from  the  present  times  !  0  ye  sons 
of  Ambition,  beware  lest  a  thirst  for  power  tempt  you 
to  enslave  your  country  !  0  ye  sons  of  Avarice,  be- 
ware lest  the  thirst  for  gold  excite  you  to  enslave  your 


1765]  THE  STAMP-ACT  TUMULTS.  97 

native  country !  0  ye  sons  of  Popularity,  beware  lest 
a  thii'st  for  applause  move  you  groundlessly  to  inflame 
the  minds  of  the  people  !  For  the  end  of  slavery  is 
misery  to  the  world,  your  country,  fellow-citizens,  and 
children  ;  the  end  of  popular  rage,  destruction,  desola- 
tion, and  ruin. 

"  Who  that  sees  the  fury  and  instability  of  the  popu- 
lace but  would  seek  protection  under  the  arm  of 
power?  Who  that  beholds  the  tyranny  and  oppres- 
sion of  arbitrary  power  but  would  lose  his  Hfe  in 
defense  of  his  liberty?  Who  that  marks  the  riotous 
tumult,  confusion,  and  uproar  of  a  democratic,  the 
slavery  and  distress  of  a  despotic,  state  —  the  infinite 
miseries  attendant  on  both  —  but  would  fly  for  refuge 
from  the  mad  rage  of  the  one,  and  oppressive  power  of 
the  other,  to  that  best  asylum,  that  glorious  medium, 
the  British  Constitution?  Happy  people  who  enjoy 
this  blessed  constitution  !  Happy,  thrice  happy  people, 
if  ye  preserve  it  inviolate !  May  ye  never  lose  it 
through  a  licentious  abuse  of  your  invaluable  rights 
and  blood-purchased  liberties  !  May  ye  never  forfeit  it 
by  a  tame  and  infamous  submission  to  the  yoke  of 
slavery  and  lawless  despotism  ! 

"  Remember,  O  my  frieucls  !  the  laws,  the  rights, 
The  generous  plan  of  power  delivered  down. 
From  age  to  age,  by  your  renowned  forefathers, 
So  dearly  bought,  the  price  of  so  much  blood  ! 
Oh,  let  it  never  perish  in  your  hands. 
But  piously  transmit  it  to  your  children. 
Do  thou,  great  liberty,  inspire  our  souls, 
And  make  our  lives  in  thy  possession  happy, 
Or  our  death  glorious  in  thy  just  defence." ' 

Mass.  Hist,  Soc.  Proceed.,  vol.  iv.,  April,  1858. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    REPEAL    OF    THE    STAMP    ACT. 

Boston  and  the  Province  were  generally  ashamed  of 
the  outrage  upon  Hutchinson,  but  the  mob  still  dared 
to  show  its  hand.  Though  in  the  first  rush  of  feehng 
many  of  the  rioters  were  sent  to  jail,  they  were  after- 
wards set  free ;  absconding  for  a  time,  they  soon  re- 
turned, ready  for  further  mischief.  The  chief  actor 
seems  to  have  been  a  shoemaker  named  Macldntosh, 
who,  though  arrested,  was  presently  discharged ;  Hutch- 
inson declares  this  was  through  the  interference  of  men 
of  good  position,  who  feared  that  a  confession  from 
him  would  implicate  them.  Hutchinson,  who  at  first 
felt  safe  with  his  family  nowhere  else  than  at  the 
Castle,  in  the  harbor,  received  much  sympathy.  Dr. 
Jonathan  Mayhew,  a  sermon  by  whom  it  was  supposed 
had  acted  as  an  incitement  to  the  disorder,  wrote  to 
him :  "  God  is  my  witness,  that  from  the  bottom  of  my 
heart  I  detest  these  proceedings  ;  and  that  I  am  sin- 
cerely grieved  for  them,  and  have  a  deep  sympathy 
with  you  and  your  distressed  family  on  this  occasion. 
I  indeed  .  .  .  spoke  of  the  Stamp  Act  as  a  great 
grievance,  likely  to  prove  detrimental  in  a  high  degree, 
both  to  the  Colonies  and  the  mother  country,  and  I 
have  heard  your  Honor  speak  to  the  same  purpose."  ^ 

^  Gordon  :  vol.  i.,  p.  178. 


1765]  THE  REPEAL  OF  THE   STAMP  ACT.  99 

The  Assembly  condemned  the  transaction,  declaring 
the  violence  to  be  not  the  act  of  the  people,  but  of  a 
knot  of  abandoned  men.  When  Hutchinson  claimed 
compensation,  many  of  the  towns  appeared  well  dis- 
posed to  grant  it.  The  disposition  was,  however,  frus- 
trated for  the  time.  The  most  curious  memorial  now 
extant  of  this  old-tune  outrage  is  the  manuscript  of  a 
portion  of  Hutchinson's  History,  which,  after  lying  all 
nio'ht  in  the  mud  of  the  street  into  which  it  had  been 
flung,  was  rescued  in  the  morning  and  handed  over  to 
Dr.  Andi-ew  Eliot.  He  restored  it  to  its  owner,  and  it 
still  remains  among  his  papers  in  the  Boston  State 
House,  its  leaves  yet  Imip  and  stained  from  their  soak- 
ing, one  hundred  and  thirty  years  ago. 

In  the  difficult  situation  Bernard  behaved  in  a  manly 
way.  Declaring  that  a  law  might  be  inexpedient,  and 
yet  it  could  not  be  denied  that  Parliament  had  author- 
ity to  make  the  law,  he  did  what  he  thought  was  right, 
announcins:  at  much  risk  that  he  would  stand  in  the 
place  of  Oliver  as  stamp-distributor.  He  had  done 
what  he  could  to  prevent  the  Act,  but  now  that  it  was 
passed  in  spite  of  him,  as  a  resolute  magistrate  he 
would  execute  it  to  the  letter. 

The  legislature  met  in  September,  but  was  summarily 
prorogued  by  Bernard,  when  he  found  an  obstmate  re- 
sistance to  his  idea  of  parliamentary  supremacy.  Mark, 
however,  that  at  this  abortive  session  Samuel  Adams 
took  his  place,  being  sworn  in  just  in  time,  and  then 
and  there  beginning  one  of  the  most  influential  of  po- 
Htical  careers,  which  was  destined  to  continue  almost  to 
the  end  of  the  century.    In  October  the  legislature  met 


100  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1765 

once  more,  promulgating  in  two  documents  a  response 
to  Bernard  and  a  series  of  resolves  soon  very  famous 
as  the  "  Massachusetts  Resolves,"  sentiments  quite  in 
advance  of  what  had  been  hitherto  formally  uttered. 
The  powers  of  Parliament  were  definitely  limited,  and 
a  plain  refusal  given  to  assist  in  the  execution  of  the 
Stamp  Act.  This  bracing  up  in  tone  was  due  to  the 
influence  mainly  of  the  new  member,  who,  as  Clerk  of 
the  House,  prepared  these  documents,  —  a  function 
which  he  was  to  fulfill  through  many  an  important  year 
to  come.  Otis  was  absent  at  the  Stamp  Act  Congress 
in  New  York,  and  no  other  man  could  put  plausibly 
to  the  Assembly  the  idea  of  submission.  From  this 
moment,  too,  the  idea  of  colonial  representation  in  Par- 
liament ceases  to  be  heard  of,  men  generally  acquiescing 
in  Samuel  Adams's  view  that  it  was  quite  impracticable. 
"  We  think,"  wrote  he,  "  the  Colonies  cannot  be  fully 
and  equally  represented,  and  if  not  equally,  then  in 
effect  not  at  all.  A  representative  should  be,  and  con- 
tinue to  be,  well  acquainted  with  the  internal  circum- 
stances of  the  peo2)le  whom  he  represents."  ^  Three 
thousand  miles  of  ocean  prevent  this. 

As  vagueness  now  disappears.  Whig  or  Son  of  Lib- 
erty, and  Tory  or  Prerogative  man,  standing  up  against 
one  another  in  clear  and  definite  opposition,  no  au- 
thority gives  the  situation  in  a  way  so  fair  and  straight- 
forward as  does  Hutchinson,  both  in  his  History  and  his 
letters.  Without  any  improper  resentment,  he  writes, 
in  the  months  immediately  following,  of  the  outrage 

^  To  Dennys  Deberdt,  colonial  agent,  December  21, 1765. 


1765]  THE   REPEAL  OF  THE   STAMP  ACT.  101 

upon    him,   of    his    own   views,   and   of   those   of    the 
people. 

After  the  riot  he  wrote  as  follows  to  Governor  Pow- 
nall :  — 

Boston,  31  Aug.  17C5. 

"  Whilst  the  Act  of  Parliament  was  depending  I  never 
made  any  scruple  in  America  or  in  my  letters  to  Eng- 
land, of  setting  the  privileges  of  the  colonists  with 
respect  to  internal  taxes  in  the  most  favorable  light  I 
could,  nor  did  I  in  any  instance  act  a  double  part  in 
the  affair  ;  but  now  the  Act  is  passed,  I  have  always  con- 
sidered it  as  legally  right,  and  declared  that  the  oaths  I 
had  taken  bound  me  in  discharge  of  my  public  trust  to 
a  conformity  to  it.  This,  with  the  reports  that  there 
were  copies  of  letters  in  town  which  I  had  wrote  to 
England  in  favor  of  the  Stamp  Act,  has  made  me  the 
principal  object  of  popidar  resentment  ever  since  Mr. 
Oliver  has  been  compelled  to  declare  his  resignation. 
But  this  violence  is  by  no  means  to  be  charged  upon 
the  whole  country :  nine  tenths  or  more  of  the  peojDle 
in  it,  I  am  sure,  would  detest  their  barbarous  proceed- 
ings against  me.  It  is,  however,  the  consequence  of  an 
impression  made  upon  the  minds  of  almost  the  whole 
continent  that  they  are  deprived  of  EngHsh  liberties 
which  the  better  sort  are  for  defending  they  say  by  all 
lawful  means  in  their  power,  and  the  most  abandoned 
say  they  vnW  do  it  2:)er  fas  aid  nefas.  We  are  in  the 
most  deplorable  state,  and  all  who  are  in  authority 
stand  in  need  of  more  than  human  wisdom  and  for- 
titude upon  this  occasion."^ 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  149. 


102  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1765 

March  8, 1766  (marked  "  not  sent  ")/  he  writes  :  — 
"  A  thought  of  independence  I  could  not  think  it 
possible  should  enter  into  the  heart  of  any  man  in  his 
senses  for  ages  to  come.  You  have  more  than  once 
hinted  that  I  was  mistaken,  and  I  am  now  convinced  I 
was  so,  and  that  the  united  endeavors  of  the  friends  to 
Britain  and  her  Colonies  in  Europe  and  America  were 
necessary  to  restore  the  Colonies  to  a  true  sense  of  their 
duty  and  interests.  It  would  be  presumption  in  me  to 
suggest  measures  to  his  Majesty's  ministers.  If  I  am 
capable  of  doing  any  service,  it  must  be  by  acquainting 
you  with  the  rise  and  progress  of  this  taint  of  prin- 
ciples and  the  degree  to  which  it  prevails.  It  is  not 
more  than  two  years  since  it  was  the  general  principle 
of  the  colonists  that,  in  all  matters  of  privilege  or 
rights,  the  determination  of  the  Parliament  of  Great 
Britain  must  be  decisive.  They  could  not,  it  is  true, 
alter  the  nature  of  things ;  and  the  natural  rights  of 
an  Englishman,  to  which  no  precise  idea  seems  to  have 
been  affixed,  would  remain  in  him ;  but  the  exercise  of 
that  riofht  durinof  the  continuance  of  such  determination 
or  act  must  be  suspended.  To  oppose  by  armed  force 
the  execution  of  any  Act  of  Parliament,  grand  juries 
without  offense  have  been  often  instructed,  was  high 
treason,  as  well  in  America  as  in  Europe ;  and  that  his 
Majesty,  as  King  of  Great  Britain,  had  no  subjects  in 
any  part  of  the  world  upon  whom  an  Act  of  Parhament 
was  not  binding.  You  will  give  me  leave  to  mention 
to  you  how  these  principles  have  gradually  changed  for 
others  which  ajjproach  very  near  to  independence.    You 

1  M.  A.  Hist,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  200,  etc. 


1765]  THE   REPEAL   OF  THE   STAMP   ACT.  103 

are  sensible  the  Parliament  had  scarce  in  any  instance 
imposed  any  Act  or  duty  upon  the  Colonies  for  the  pur- 
pose of  revenue.  The  18th  sug'ar  duty  was  considered 
for  the  regulation  of  trade ;  the  Molasses  Act  of  the  6th 
of  George  11.  was  professedly  designed  merely  as  a 
prohibition  from  the  foreign  islands,  and  the  Greenwich 
hospital  duty  was  upon  seamen,  who  generally  are 
rather  inhabitants  of  the  world  than  any  Colony  ;  and 
the  post-office  was  supposed  to  be  established  for  pub- 
lic convenience,  and  until  the  late  Act  which  lowered 
the  duty  upon  molasses  and  sugar  with  a  professed  de- 
sign to  raise  a  revenue  from  them,  few  people  in  the 
Colonies  had  made  it  a  question  how  far  the  Parliament 
of  right  might  impose  taxes  upon  them.  The  Massachu- 
setts Assembly  was  the  first  body  which  took  this  mat- 
ter into  consideration.  .  .  .  Several  [addresses  ?]  were 
prepared  which  expressed  in  strong  terms  an  exclusive 
right  in  the  Assembly  to  impose  taxes.  I  urged  the  ill 
policy  when  they  had  the  resolution  of  the  House  of 
the  Commons  before,  of  sending  an  address  in  express 
words  asserting  the  contrary,  and  after  a  fortnight 
spent,  at  the  desire  of  the  committee^  I  drew  an  address 
which  considered  the  sole  power  of  taxation  as  an  in- 
dulgence we  prayed  the  continuance  of,  and  this  was 
unanimously  agreed  to.  .  .  .  It  will  be  some  amuse- 
ment to  you  to  have  a  more  circumstantial  account  of 
the  model  of  government  among  us.  I  will  begin  with 
the  lowest  branch,  partly  legislative,  partly  executive. 
This  consists  of  the  rabble  of  the  town  of  Boston, 
headed  by  one  Mackintosh,  who,  I  imagine,  you  never 

^  Hutchinson  was  chairman. 


104  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1765 

heard  of.  He  is  a  bold  fellow,  and  as  likely  for  a  Ma- 
saniello  as  you  can  well  conceive.  When  there  is  occa- 
sion to  burn  or  hang  effigies  or  pull  down  houses,  these 
are  employed ;  but  since  government  has  been  brought 
to  a  system,  they  are  somewhat  controlled  by  a  superior 
set  consisting  of  the  master-masons,  and  carpenters,  &c., 
of  the  town  of  Boston.  .  .  .  When  anything  of  more 
importance  is  to  be  determined,  as  opening  the  custom- 
house on  any  matters  of  trade,  these  are  under  the 
direction  of  a  committee  of  merchants,  Mr.  Rowe  at 
their  head,  then  Molyneux,  Solomon  Davis,  &c. :  but 
all  affairs  of  a  general  nature,  opening  all  the  courts  of 
law,  &c.,  this  is  proper  for  a  general  meeting  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Boston,  where  Otis,  with  his  mob-high 
eloquence,  prevails  in  every  motion,  and  the  town  first 
determine  what  is  necessary  to  be  done,  and  then  apply 
either  to  the  Governor  or  Council,  or  resolve  that  it  is 
necessary  the  General  Court  correct  it ;  and  it  would 
be  a  very  extraordinary  resolve  indeed  that  is  not  car- 
ried into  execution.  .  .  .  About  a  fortnight  ago  the 
distracted  demagogue  of  Boston  attacked  my  history  of 
the  Colony,  and  censured  me  in  his  newspaper  for  charg- 
ing the  government  with  a  mistake  in  imagining  that 
no  act  of  the  Colony  was  necessary  to  give  force  to  an 
Act  of  Parliament  regulating  trade.  A  few  days  after, 
upon  a  seizure  of  molasses  and  sugar  at  Newbury,  half- 
a-dozen  boats,  well  manned,  went  after  the  officer,  took 
the  goods  from  him  and  the  boat  he  was  in,  and  left 
him  all  night  upon  the  beach.  A  proclamation,  with 
promise  of  reward  on  discovery,  is  nothing  more  than 
the  show  of  authority  :  no  man  will  venture  a  discovery. 


1765]  THE  REPEAL   OF  THE   STAMP  ACT.  105 

and  I  imagine  a  few  more  such  instances  will  make  it 
settled  law,  that  no  act  but  those  of  our  own  legislature 
can  bind  us." 

The  remark  "  not  sent "  prefixed  to  the  foregoing 
letter,  and  occasionally  to  others,  may  possibly  have 
given  rise  to  an  accusation  brought  at  a  later  day 
against  Hutchinson,  namely,  that  he  often  wrote  let- 
ters, ostensibly  for  foreign  correspondents,  but  mthout 
any  intention  of  sending  them :  they  were  prepared  to 
produce  popular  effect,  —  with  sentiments  sometimes 
not  really  those  of  the  writer ;  having  served  this  turn 
they  were  laid  aside.^  A  most  inadequate  basis  this  for 
such  a  suspicion,  but  there  is  no  other  scrap  of  evidence 
that  he  ever  descended  to  such  a  trick. 

Hutchinson  dearly  loved  the  Province,  believing  to 
the  last  that  the  hearts  of  the  people  were  sound,  if 
only  "  incendiaries "  would  let  them  alone.  Nine 
tenths  of  the  Province  he  felt  sure  now  detested  violence, 
but  over  the  whole  continent  the  impression  was  coming 
to  prevail  that  the  Colonies  were  deprived  of  English 
liberties.  The  better  sort  desired  to  use  lawful  means 
alone  in  defense  of  those  vaguely  defined  liberties,  — 
the  most  abandoned  only  would  do  it  2)€T  fas  cad  nefas. 
Being  advised  to  go  to  England  with  his  children,  when 
they  were  in  semi-concealment  at  Milton  in  reasonable 
fear  of  further  violence,  he  could  not  bear  the  thought 
of  leaving  his  country  while  he  could  do  it  service. 

Events  moved  rapidly.  The  Stamp-Act  Congress,  at 
which  nine  of  the  thirteen  Colonies  were  represented, 

^  The  earliest  instance  of  the  charge,  probably,  is  in  Eliot's  New  Eng. 
Biog.  Did.,  art.  "Hutchinson." 


106  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1765 

took  action  little  to  the  taste  of  the  three  Massachu- 
setts delegates,  after  much  stormy  debate.  The  conclu- 
sion was  quite  in  harmony  with  the  contemporaneous 
Massachusetts  Resolves.  Otis  returned  home  discom- 
fited, his  ideas  of  submission  and  parliamentary  repre- 
sentation getting  here  a  quietus  from  which  they  never 
recovered ;  while  Timothy  Ruggles,  who  had  been 
president,  from  this  time  on  threw  in  his  -pavt  with  the 
Tories,  proving  to  the  last  an  uncompromising  fighter.^ 
The   Stamp  Act  went   into  operation  November   1, 

^  We  shall  have  little  occasion  to  refer  to  Ruggles  hereafter,  though  he 
stood  stoutly  to  his  principles  in  the  Massachusetts  Assembly,  as  he  had 
stood  stoutly  to  his  work  in  many  a  field  of  the  old  French  war.  In  the 
small  loyal  minority,  he  was  Hutchinson's  bravest  and  ablest  helper.  He 
was  one  of  the  best  lawj^ers  of  the  Province,  being  particularly  marked 
by  a  fine  vein  of  humor  which  makes  his  figure  attractive  in  the  midst 
of  the  fierce  controversy.  This  element  is  so  woefully  lacking  in  Hutchin- 
son, the  temptation  cannot  be  resisted  to  give  a  story  or  two  about  this 
henchman  of  his,  if  only  by  way  of  relief  to  a  sombre  narrative.  When' 
Ruggles  was  in  college,  he  was  one  of  a  party  which  stole  a  sign,  the 
booty  being  carried  to  his  room.  The  proctors  got  wind  of  it  and  pur- 
sued the  depredators.  Arriving  at  Ruggles's  door,  they  heard  sounds 
indicating  that  a  prayer-meeting  was  going  on  inside,  an  exercise  which  by 
college  prescription  could  not  be  disturbed.  The  culprits,  knowing  they 
were  tracked,  had  put  the  sign  on  the  fire  to  burn,  holding  the  prayer- 
meeting  meantime  until  all  evidence  should  be  consumed.  While  the 
proctors  waited,  the  imctuous  voice  of  Ruggles  was  heard  through  the 
door,  as  he  wrestled  in  devotion  :  "  A  wicked  and  adulterous  generation 
seeketh  after  a  sign,  and  there  shall  no  sign  be  given  them  but  the  sign 
of  the  prophet  Jonas."  At  a  later  time  Ruggles  was  trying  a  case  before 
a  Court  of  Sessions,  composed  of  county  Justices  of  the  Peace,  whom  he 
for  some  reason  held  in  much  contempt.  A  dog  had  curled  himself  up  in 
a  seat  on  the  platform  where  the  Court  was  placed,  causing  Ruggles  to 
rise  to  a  point  of  order  :  "  He  had  no  objection  to  the  dog  being  on  the 
bench  :  on  the  contrary,  he  thought  the  companionship  was  eminently  fit. 
But  the  proper  forms  should  be  observed,  and  he  accordingly  moved  that 
the  dos:  should  be  sworn  in  as  a  Justice  of  the  Peace." 


1765]  THE   REPEAL  OF  THE  STAMP  ACT.  107 

1765,  amid  doleful  bell-tolling  and  firing  of  minute- 
guns.  Bernard,  hating  the  law,  resolutely  did  what  he 
thought  his  duty  in  executing  it.  The  stamps  were  at 
the  Castle,  with  an  additional  force  to  guard  them,  and 
the  Governor  was  ready  to  distribute  them  at  all  risks. 
But  the  sullen  Assembly  devised  means  to  do  business 
without  stamps,  and  roasted  the  Governor  for  taking 
money  from  the  treasury  without  their  consent,  to 
pay  the  additional  force.  Non-miportation  agreements 
threatened  to  put  a  stop  to  English  trade.  In  every 
way  the  sky  was  black.  Boston  petitioned  to  have  the 
Courts  opened  in  defiance  of  the  Act,  John  Adams,  in 
conjunction  with  James  Otis  and  Jeremiah  Gridley,  ap- 
pearing before  the  Governor  for  the  town,  and  then 
and  there  beginning  his  public  career.  But  Grenville 
and  his  ministry  passed  out  of  power,  while  the  Mar- 
quis of  Rockingham,  with  the  liberal  Conway  as  Secre- 
tary of  State,  and  Edmund  Burke  as  his  chief  adviser, 
stood  in  their  places. 

The  surprise  had  been  great  in  England  that  the 
Stamp  Act  had  met  with  such  opposition.  Govern- 
ment supposed  it  had  proceeded  upon  the  best  informa- 
tion and  advice.  Shirley,  for  fifteen  years  Governor  of 
Massachusetts,  together  with  several  others  presumed  to 
be  well  acquainted  with  the  temper  of  the  Colonies,  had 
been  consulted,  and  had  seen  no  reason  to  hesitate  at 
such  a  course.  Some  of  the  colonial  acrents  had  favored 
it.  It  was  of  course  likely  to  be  a  bitter  jDiU,  thought 
the  ministry.  When  is  it  otherwise  with  a  scheme  of 
taxation  ?  But  we  will  sugar-coat  it  abundantly  ;  so, 
to   appease  the   South,  the  trade  in   rice  was  favored, 


108  THE  LIFE   OF   THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1766 

while  the  North  received  a  sop  iu  various  encourage- 
ments. Most  unexpectedly,  however,  both  old  and  new 
world  were  in  a  blaze  of  excitement,  —  the  latter  vocif- 
erating that  they  were  taxed  while  unrepresented ;  the 
former  stirred  up  into  terror  by  the  traders  with  Amer- 
ica, who  saw  ruin  for  themselves  in  the  discontent  of 
their  trans- Atlantic  customers. 

Early  in  1766  came  that  debate,  one  of  the  most 
memorable  which  ever  took  place  at  St.  Stephens, 
whether  we  consider  the  ability  and  character  of  the 
participants,  or  the  gravity  of  the  issues  involved.  Pitt, 
Burke,  Camden,  and  Barre  were  for  the  repeal  of  the 
Stamp  Act.  The  great  Chief  Justice  of  England, 
Mansfield,  led  the  opposing  host ;  while  FrankHn,  close 
at  hand,  called  to  the  bar  of  the  Commons,  gave  to  a 
committee  of  the  House  his  weighty  testimony  that  the 
colonists  held  allegiance  to  be  due  to  the  King  alone,  and 
that  instead  of  ParHament  only  the  General  Court  in 
each  Province  should  have  power  to  tax.  We  in  Amer- 
ica, holding,  as  has  been  our  fashion,  that  all  the  wis- 
dom was  on  one  side  in  that  combat,  and  that  only  folly 
and  ruthlessness  characterized  the  party  of  the  King, 
need  to  restudy  the  matter.^  Pitt's  position,  that  the 
Colonies  should  tax  themselves,  but  in  every  other  point 
be  under  the  dominion  of  Parliament,  has  been  re- 
garded in  England  from  that  day  to  this  as  untenable.^ 
Between  legislation  for  taxing  and  legislation  for  other 
purposes  no  distinction  can  be  drawn.     The  Colonies, 

^  See  the  able  presentment  of  an  unusual  view  by  Professor  Moses 
Coit  Tyler  :  American  Historical  Review,  vol.  i.,  No.  1,  "  The  Party  of  the 
Loyalists  in  the  American  Revolution." 

^  Massey  :  Hist,  of  Reign  of  George  III.,  vol.  i.,  p.  262. 


1766]  THE  REPEAL  OF  THE  STAMP  ACT.  109 

too,  at  this  very  moment,  practically  pronounced  Pitt's 
position  untenable.  Not  simply  the  power  to  tax,  but 
the  power  to  pass  laws  of  any  kind,  was  denied  :  this 
soon  became  the  general  doctrine,  —  doctrine,  let  it  be 
noted,  which,  had  disease  allowed  Pitt  cajjacity  to  act, 
would  have  been  fought  by  him  as  vigorously  as  by  any 
Tory  of  his  day. 

Nor,  on  the  other  hand,  is  that  doctrine  of  virtual 
representation,  presented  by  Mansfield,  so  scored  by 
Pitt  and  James  Otis,  and  scouted  ever  since  in  Amer- 
ica as  quite  absurd,  at  all  deser^dng  to  be  set  aside  so 
summarily.  "  The  notion  now  taken  up,"  said  Mans- 
field, "that  every  subject  must  be  represented  by 
deputy,  is  purely  ideal. 

"  A  member  of  Parliament  chosen  by  any  borough, 
represents  not  only  the  constituents  and  inhabitants  of 
that  particular  place,  but  he  represents  the  inhabitants 
of  every  other  borough  in  Great  Britain.  He  rej)re- 
sents  the  city  of  London  and  all  other  the  Commons 
of  this  land,  and  the  inhabitants  of  all  the  Colonies 
and  dominions  of  Great  Britain,  and  is  in  duty  and 
conscience  bound  to  take  care  of  their  interests."  ^ 

The  most  recent  and  most  authoritative  Enolish  his- 
torian  of  the  eighteenth  century  declares  these  closing 
sentences  of  Mansfield  to  be  grandly  true,  and  calls 
attention  to  the  fact  that  Burke  not  long-  after  insisted 
upon  the  same  ideas  to  the  electors  of  Bristol.  What 
trouble  has  come,  and  still  comes  to  the  United  States, 
from  the  general  failure  to  recognize  the  expediency 
and   the   justice   of    this   position    of    Mansfield   and 

^  Hansard's  Parliamentary  History,  vol.  xvi. 


110  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1766 

Burke  !  In  high  places  and  low,  the  delegate  stands 
only  for  the  knot  that  sent  limi.  In  the  municipal 
council  each  deputy  has  only  his  ward  in  thought,  hot 
the  city  at  large.  In  the  Senate  at  Washington,  his 
particular  State,  not  the  whole  land,  too  often  limits 
the  sympathy  of  the  Senator.  From  lowest  to  highest, 
our  legislatures  here  are  honeycombed  with  an  evil 
which  has  done  us  incalculable  harm,  and  is  as  yet  not 
at  all  stayed.  '*'  I  will  vote  for  your  scheme,  which  I 
really  think  wrong  or  know  nothing  of,  if  you  will  vote 
for  mine.  You  are  for  your  section ;  I  have  no  re- 
sponsibihty  except  to  look  out  for  my  particular  con- 
stituents. Why  need  I  care  for  the  land  in  general  ?  " 
So  it  is  that  legislation  becomes  a  constant  log-rolling, 
and  the  statesmen  can  be  counted  upon  the  fingers 
whose  view  and  whose  hearts  comprehend  the  country 
in  toto.  In  the  debate  on  the  Stamp  Act,  the  ablest 
men  in  Parliament  defended  America,  —  men  who  sat  in 
Parliament  through  elections  far  enough  from  being 
free  and  just ;  but  after  all,  elections  of  such  a  nature 
that  they  could  follow  quite  unhampered  the  course 
prescribed  by  their  sense  of  justice,  or  their  idea  of  the 
welfare  of  the  empire.  If  each  one  of  the  Thirteen 
Colonies  had  had  its  two  or  more  deputies  at  that  time 
at  Westminster,  can  it  be  believed  that  the  case  of 
America  would  have  been  any  more  effectively  pre- 
sented? In  Westminster  Abbey,  the  statue  of  Mans- 
field sitting  in  his  robes,  the  grave  judicial  face  seen 
from  afar  through  the  arches,  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
pressive of  the  marble  presences.  Not  otherwise  does 
he  aj)pear  in  the  landscape  of  his  time,  —  one  of  the 


17G6]  THE   REPEAL  OF  THE   STAMP  ACT.  Ill 

ablest  and  sturdiest  characters  of  his  day ;  nor  did  he 
fall  below  his  usual  mark  in  the  debate  on  the  repeal 
of  the  Stamp  Act. 

Let  us  not  go  too  far,  however.  Lecky,  while  com- 
mending- Mansfield,  and  claiming  that  it  is  no  abuse  of 
terms  to  say  that  the  Colonies  were  virtually  rejjre- 
sented,  acknowledges  that  the  claim  cannot  be  made 
without  some  straining,  and  that  the  Stamp  Act  did 
really  infringe  on  a  great  principle,  lying  at  the  very 
root  of  the  EngHsh  conception  of  pohtical  Hberty, 
namely,  that  taxation  and  representation  are  insepa- 
rably connected.^  That  any  reputable  citizen  should 
be  without  his  vote  is  somethino-  which  no  American 
will  admit ;  which  few  EngHsh-speaking  men  anywhere 
will  admit.  Inconveniences  may  be  connected  with  a 
broad  sufPrage  ;  nothing  human  is  without  inconven- 
iences ;  and  among  such  drawbacks  may  be  the  hold- 
ing of  the  representative  by  his  constituency  in  too 
tight  a  grasp,  until  he  has  eyes  to  see  and  hands  to 
work  only  for  the  narrow  local  interest,  leaving  uncared 
for  the  interest  of  the  great  whole.  But  the  draw- 
back is  a  thousandfold  compensated.  If  there  were 
nothing  else  but  this,  that  there  is  no  other  such  edu- 
cative power  as  that  of  the  ballot,  that  and  the  condi- 
tions under  which  it  must  be  thrown,  it  would  be 
much  more  than  a  make-weigflit  for  the  evil.  There  is 
an  ideal  state  for  an  Anglo-Saxon  community,  perhaps 
not  unattainable,  in  which  a  broad  suffraoe  shall  select 
with  a  fair  degree  of  accuracy  the  worthy  man,  and 
then  leave  him  free  to  do  what  good  he  is  capable  of 

^  Lecky :  vol.  iii.,  p.  353,  etc. 


112  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1766 

cloino^  for  the  neatest  number.  The  mstinct  of  Amer- 
ica  in  the  Stamp  Act  times  was  right,  a  genuine 
prompting  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  spirit,  transmitted  from 
remote  times  and  pervading  the  breasts  of  men  even 
though  the  original  seats  had  long  been  exchanged  for 
new  homes,  —  the  instinct  demanding  that  only  those 
should  act  for  the  people  in  whose  selection  every  good 
citizen  of  the  land  had  had  a  voice.  Mansfield  and  his 
group  showed,  in  belittling  the  principle,  that  their 
finer  percej)tions  had  become  benumbed.  How  natural 
it  was,  however,  that  such  a  state  should  have  come 
about  in  their  circumstances  !  If  one  goes  from  under 
a  clear  sky  into  a  room  where  people  sit  in  bad  air, 
though  instantly  impressed  himself  by  the  foulness  in 
contrast  with  the  purity  he  has  just  left,  he  may  find 
the  people  in  the  room  comfortable,  quite  unconscious, 
perhaps,  that  the  atmosphere  is  vitiated.  The  states- 
men of  George  III.'s  day  lived  when  parliamentary  cor- 
ruption was  at  its  worst :  in  their  political  conditions 
they  knew  nothing  else,  and  api^reciated  but  feebly 
the  enormity  of  the  departure  of  their  generation 
from  a  proper  standard.  The  man  of  our  time  (in 
spite  of  all  that  may  be  said  against  it,  the  best  time 
the  world  has  ever  seen),  making  real  to  himself  in  his 
imagination  that  past  state,  is  appalled  at  the  abuses, 
and  impatient  of  the  men  that  lived  in  the  midst  of 
them  and  suffered  them  to  exist.  Those  men  of  the 
past  should,  however,  be  treated  with  thorough  candor. 
When  so  treated  they  stand  out  well  meaning  and  able, 
deserving  honor  for  all  the  good  they  saw  and  prac- 
ticed,  even  if  at  the  same  time  they  must  have  reproach. 


1766]  THE   REPEAL  OF  THE   STAMP  ACT.  113 

because  their  eyes  in  some  ways  were  blinded.  Side 
by  side  Avith  the  agitation  in  America  went  forward  an 
agitation  in  England,  the  cause  in  the  two  cases  being 
substantially  one  and  the  same,  —  a  conviction  in  the 
mass  of  the  people  that  the  "  liberties  of  EngUshmen  " 
were  A\athheld.  The  belief  expressed  by  Grenville  in 
the  great  debate  to  which  reference  has  just  been 
made  —  that  the  trouble  in  America  would  never  have 
become  threateniner  but  for  encouras^ement  from  Eno- 
land  —  was  well  founded  :  Hutchinson  saw  it  also,  and 
repeatedly  expressed  the  thought. 

Hutchinson,  thoroughly  disapproving  of  the  Stamp 
Act  as  a  most  impolitic  measure,  and  as  thoroughly  dis- 
approving of  the  position  of  the  people  that  Parhament 
had  no  right  to  pass  it  or  any  other  measure  for  them, 
tried  in  his  public  work  to  steer  the  middle  course  to 
which  his  feelings  forced  him.  In  business  of  the 
Superior  and  Probate  Courts,  he  refused  to  undertake 
any  matter  requiring  stamps.  The  popular  feehng  was 
scarcely  less  outraged  by  such  a  course  than  if  he  had 
gone  to  the  full  Tory  extreme,  and  he  had  thoughts  of 
England  again  as  an  asylum  which  he  might  be  obliged 
to  seek.  "  I  often  think,"  he  writes,  "  how  quiet  and 
contented  I  was  before  I  quitted  my  mercantile  life 
for  a  political  one,  and  it  adds  to  my  misfortune  that 
from  my  present  station  I  cannot  return  to  my  former 
condition  with  honor."  Early  in  the  spring,  however, 
rumors  of  a  probable  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act  became 
current;  and  in  May,  before  the  Assembly  met,  the 
news  of  repeal  arrived.  That  the  revocation  was  ac- 
companied by  the  Declaratory  Act,  maintaining  the  su- 


114  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1766 

premacy  of  Parliament  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  not  only 
as  to  taxation,  but  as  to  legislation  in  general,  excited 
at  the  time  Httle  remark.  The  rejoicing  was  univer- 
sal. The  bells  pealed,  flags  were  waved,  liberty-tree 
was  dressed  with  streamers  and  lanterns,  joyful  crowds 
throng-ed  the  streets.  Bernard  held  with  his  Council  a 
cono-ratulatory  meeting,  then  mingled  affably  with  the 
multitude.  Governor  and  citizen  were  for  the  moment 
heartily  happy  and  sympathetic,  —  an  instant  of  peace, 
with  discord  before  and  discord  far  worse  in  the  imme- 
diate future. 

In  a  few  days,  the  election  took  place  for  members 
of  the  Assembly.  In  the  "  Boston  seat,"  which  of  late 
had  been  growing  greatly  in  influence,  the  power  of  the 
Otises  having  sufficed  to  thrust  into  the  background 
the  jealousy  which  the  country  entertained  toward  the 
capital,  there  sat  beside  Samuel  Adams  the  new  mem- 
ber of  the  preceding  fall,  —  John  Hancock,  —  a  young 
merchant  who  lately,  through  the  death  of  an  uncle,  had 
come  into  possession  of  the  largest  property  in  the  Prov- 
ince. Another  new  member,  abler  and  worthier  than 
Hancock,  was  Joseph  Hawley,  of  Northampton,  a  man 
of  such  force  and  gifts  that  one  is  always  wondering 
why  he  did  not  do  more.  His  prestige  in  the  western 
counties  was  very  great,  and  he  made  a  strong  impres- 
sion in  his  new  sphere.  He  appears  to  have  had  a 
morbid  taint  in  his  nature  something  like  that  of  Otis ; 
which  indeed  never  made  him  an  object  of  disgust  and 
dread,  but  rendered  him  fitful  and  uncertain,  and  was 
probably  the  reason  why,  as  the  Revolution  advanced, 
he  fell  back  into  obscurity.     The  chief  characters  in 


1766]  THE   REPEAL   OF  THE   STA:\IP  ACT.  115 

the  drama  with  which  we  have  to  do  are  now  upon  the 
scene.  To  Otis  have  been  joined  the  Adamses,  Han- 
cock, Bowdoin,  and  Hawley ;  confronting  Avhom  stand 
Bernard,  Hutchinson,  and  the  OHvers,  now  definitely 
marked  as  prerogative  men  or  Tories. 

Not  many  data  for  Hutchinson's  home  life  are  given 
in  his  letters  and  journals,  full  though  they  are.  As 
appears  from  the  documents  of  the  time  when  his  house 
was  torn  down,  his  sister-in-law,  Grizel  Sanford,  was 
an  inmate  who  we  may  suppose  had  much  to  do 
with  bringing  up  her  motherless  nephews  and  nieces. 
Thomas  and  Elisha,  the  sons,  were  now  men.  Harvard 
graduates  of  1758  and  1762,  and  will  soon  appear  as 
merchants.  Sarah  was  soon  to  be  the  w^ife  of  Dr.  Peter 
Oliver.^  "Peggy,"  a  beauty,  no  doubt,  on  evidence 
about  to  be  adduced,  was  now  often  her  father's  aman- 
uensis ;  a  child  much  loved,  whose  death,  when  it  came, 
was  one  of  the  last  and  heaviest  strokes  her  father  re- 
ceived. "  Billy,"  the  youngest  boy,  was  to  have  an 
English  career,  setting  out  from  home  in  April  of  this 
year.  The  Chief  Justice  lays  it  down  to  him  as  "  a 
good  general  rule,  to  say  and  do  everything  you  can 
with  a  good  conscience  to  obtain  every  man's  favor,  and 
to  avoid  as  far  as  possible  giving  offense,"  —  advice,  it 
must  be  acknowledged,  which  might  well  have  come 
from  Polonius  or  Mr.  Worldly wiseman.  "  We  were  all 
employed  in  watching  you  from  Milton  all  the  day  you 
sailed,  and  did  not  wholly  lose  sight  of  you  until  late 
in  the  afternoon." 

1  Son  of  Peter  Oliver,  soon  to  be  Chief  Justice. 


116  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1766 

At  Milton  the  family  lived  now,  for  the  most  part. 
The  place  was  a  superb  one,  greatly  loved  by  the  Gov- 
ernor, who  thus  described  it  to  King  George  in  1774  :  — 

"  My  house  is  seven  or  eight  miles  from  town,  a 
pleasant  situation,  and  many  gentlemen  from  abroad 
say  it  has  the  finest  prospect  from  it  they  ever  saw,  ex- 
cept where  great  improvements  have  been  made  by  art, 
to  help  the  natural  view."  ^  Certainly  the  view  is  very 
lovely;  and  "improvements  made  by  art"  would  enable 
the  Governor,  if  he  could  describe  the  spot  to-day,  to 
praise  it  without  qualification.  Southward,  at  the  dis- 
tance of  three  or  four  miles,  lie  the  Blue  Hills,  from 
whose  Indian  title  of  Massachusetts  the  land  derives  its 
name.  Seen  from  Hutchinson's  home,  the  noble  range 
presents  itself  in  its  most  picturesque  outline,  the  granite 
shoulders  thrust  boldly  under  the  heaven  in  the  horizon, 
as  wild  and  forest-grown  to  the  eye  to-day  as  they  were 
a  century  ago.  Toward  the  north,  beyond  a  league  or 
two  of  meadow,  where  the  haymakers  are  at  work  in 
July,  and  through  which  the  dark  Neponset  winds  to 
the  sea,  the  entire  expanse  of  Boston  harbor  lies  out- 
spread, from  the  wharves  to  the  outer  light,  dotted  with 
its  islands  and  forts  and  thronged  with  ships.  The 
golden  dome  of  the  State  House  crowns  the  great  city, 
far  to  the  left;  and  close  at  hand  as  well  as  in  the  dis- 
tance, along  the  blue  sea,  lies  a  landscape  whose  beauty 
is  everywhere  heightened  by  the  power  of  wealth,  re- 
finement, and  industry. 

^  Account  of  conversation  with  George  III.,  Diary  and  Letters  of 
Hutchinson,  vol.  i.,  p.  164. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE    END    OF    BERNARD. 

While  the  people  in  general  were  disposed  to  be 
quiet,  the  leaders  were  under  no  illusion  as  to  the 
Declaratory  Act.  With  that  on  the  statute-book,  no 
peace  was  possible  between  the  ProAdnce  and  the  powers 
at  home,  and  there  was  encouragement  from  home  to 
think  that  an  active  policy  might  gain  all.  At  once, 
after  the  election,  trouble  began.  Otis,  having  been 
chosen  Speaker,  was  negatived  by  Bernard,  Thomas 
Gushing  being  put  in  his  place,  an  inoffensive,  honor- 
able man,  whose  name  for  ten  years  to  come  was  very 
prominent,  since  he  was  regularly  made  Speaker.  He 
had,  however,  little  significance  in  himself.  Hutchin- 
son, Andrew  Oliver,  Secretary  of  the  Province,  Lynde, 
of  the  Superior  Court,  and  Trowbridge,  the  Attorney- 
General,  men  whom  Bernard  much  desired  for  the 
Council,  were  rejected  by  the  legislature,  the  hand  of 
Otis  appearing  plainly  in  the  transaction.  The  reason 
alleo'ed  was  that  it  was  dang-erous  to  unite  the  lesfisla- 
tive  with  judicial  or  executive  powers.  This  Hutchin- 
son made  light  of  as  quite  new  doctrine,  urging  that 
there  was  abundant  precedent  for  judges  to  act  as 
Councilors,  and  claiming  for  himself  a  right  to  a  seat  in 
the  upper  House  by  virtue  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor- 


118  THE   LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1766 

sliip.^  The  Lieutenant-Governor,  Hutcliinson  says,  had 
sat  in  the  Council  from  1692  to  1732,  not  voting  except 
when  elected ;  but  Hutchinson  had  been  elected  to  the 
Council  constantly  since  1749.  The  House,  however, 
stood  firm,  and  the  home  government  declined  to  inter- 
fere ;  so  into  Hutchinson's  place  as  leader  of  the  Coun- 
cil came  James  Bowdoin,  the  able  merchant  of  Hugue- 
not strain,  who  in  preceding  years  had  stood  with 
Hutchinson  in  his  financial  schemes.  Now,  however, 
he  was  with  the  Whigs,  and  under  his  influence  the 
Council  sometimes  went  farther  in  opposition  than  the 
Assembly  itself.  While  the  Council  spoke  of  a  "  due 
submission  "  to  Parliament  as  proper,  and  the  House 
used  the  phrase  "  constitutional  subordination,"  Hawley 
at  last  startled  his  fellows  by  denying  in  set  terms  all 
right  in  Parliament  to  legislate  for  the  Colonies.  A 
noteworthy  incident  of  the  summer  session  was  the  de- 
mand by  Otis  that  a  gallery  should  be  provided  in  the 
House  for  the  use  of  the  public,  to  whom  the  debates 
should  hereafter  be  thrown  open.  Now  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  world,  says  Tudor,  such  pro- 
vision took  place,  a  thing  which  has  been  followed  in 
all  countries  where  constitutional  government  prevails, 
and  which  has  modified  profoundly  the  character  and 
proceedings  of  deliberative  bodies." 

In  the  fall  a  special  session  of  the  legislature  was 
called  by  Bernard,  to  consider  the  matter  of  restitution 
to  Hutchinson  for  his  loss  through  the  mob  of  the  pre- 

^  When  the  State  of  Massachusetts  afterwards  adopted  a  constitution, 
the  LieTitenaut-Governor  became  ex-officio  President  of  the  Council. 
2  Life  of  Otis. 


1766]  THE  END   OF  BERNARD.  119 

vious  year.  At  this  time  nothing  was  done,  the  members 
of  the  House  pleading  that  they  could  not  act  without 
instructions  from  their  constituents,  and  Hawley  show- 
ing an  unfriendHness  which  cut  Hutchinson,  who  was 
incHned  to  like  him,  to  the  quick.  As  regards  the  mat- 
ter of  instructions,  a  letter  of  Hutchinson  of  this  time  ^ 
contains  a  few  sentences  which  show  that  he  held  with 
Burke,^  that  a  legislator  should  be  his  own  man  and 
not  a  mere  mouthpiece. 

"  November  7,  176G.  In  the  recess  of  the  Court 
most  of  the  members  applied  to  then*  towns  for  in- 
tructions,  and  now  suppose  themselves  at  all  events 
held  to  conform  to  them.  This  I  always  thought  un- 
constitutional and  absiu'd,  and  contrary  to  the  idea  of 
a  Parliament ;  but  upon  instructions  prevailing  so  much 
as  they  have  done  of  late  years  in  England  upon  any 
important  point,  we  must  mimic  you,  and  by  means 
of  it  continue  the  public  embarrassment,  as  well  as  my 
private  distress  ;  for  I  am  assured  that  more  than  one 
half  the  negatives,  if  they  had  not  feared  theii-  towns, 
would  have  been  on  the  other  side  of  the  question,  and 
that  from  attachment  to  me,  for  I  never  stood  better 
with  the  Assembly  in  general." 

What  Hutchinson  writes  as  to  Hawley's  course  is 
manly  and  pathetic.  "March  27,  1767.  I  have  never 
met  with  any  misfortune  more  sudden  and  unexpected 
than  Major  Hawley's  violent  prejudice  and  opposition. 
.  .  .  When  a  general  charge  is  made  against  me  by  a 
gentleman  of  so  fine  a  character  as  Major  Hawley  has 
always  sustained,  that  I  am  of  unconstitutional  princi- 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  250.  -  To  the  Electors  of  Bristol. 


120  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1766 

pies,  am  ambitious  and  lustful  of  power,  and  when  he 
has  repeatedly  declared  that  he  is  loth  to  enter  into 
particulars,  I  should  not  wonder  if  the  most  extrava- 
gant things  should  be  said  of  me  in  one  part  of  the 
country  or  another.  We  are  not  always  upon  our  guard, 
and  resentment  upon  the  first  notice  of  fresh  injuries 
may  lead  me  to  drop  some  expressions  which  I  wish  to 
avoid.  I  only  desire  my  friends  to  suspend  forming 
any  judgment  upon  such  iU  reports  until  they  have 
better  evidence  than  merely  the  reports  themselves.  .  .  . 
Some  of  my  friends,  as  they  have  told  me,  were  really 
afraid  something  criminal  would  be  produced.  I  am  in- 
formed that  all  the  particulars  of  the  general  charge 
was  my  taking  the  place  of  Chief  Justice  when  I  was 
Lieutenant-Governor.  It  was  not  a  place  of  my  seeking  ; 
and  if  he  should  prevail  upon  the  people  to  think  I 
ought  not  to  continue  in  it,  I  will  resign  it,  for  I  do  not 
desire  any  pubUc  position  any  longer  than  I  can  give 
satisfaction.  Indeed,  if  all  the  gentlemen  of  the  bar 
shoidd  think  it  allowable  to  persecute  one  of  the  jus- 
tices of  the  Court  as  often  as  he  differed  from  him  in 
sentiment,  a  man  had  better  be  employed  in  any  me- 
nial office."  ^ 

Hutchinson  thought  that  the  temper  of  the  Province 
this  year  was,  on  the  whole,  good.  With  his  lights  the 
following  letter  to  Jasper  Mauduit  cannot  be  regarded 
as  otherwise  than  reasonable. 

"  December  31, 1766.  I  wish  the  Colonies  may  have 
a  just  sense  of  the  great  tenderness  of  their  mother 
country.     There  will  be  some  restless  spirits  in  all  gov- 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  271. 


1766]  THE   END   OF  BERNARD.  121 

ernments.  In  general  there  is  at  present  in  this  Prov- 
ince a  disposition  to  promote  government  and  good 
order.  I  cannot  say  that  we  have  the  same  apprehen- 
sion of  our  relation  to  Great  Britain  which  we  had  two 
years  ago.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.  You  are  divided 
in  your  sentiments  about  it  in  England.  Most  of  the 
political  performances  reach  us,  and  those  which  favor 
liberty  and  a  state  the  least  dependent  are  most  ap- 
proved. Besides,  it  is  an  age  of  liberty.  If  we  have 
right  notions  of  the  constitution  of  Great  Britain,  it  has 
been  growing  more  and  more  popular  since  the  Revolu- 
tion, and  some  of  the  other  nations  of  Europe  are  wish- 
ing and  making  their  feeble  attempts  to  recover  a  greater 
degree  of  freedom.  However,  I  am  not  apprehensive 
that  any  man  in  the  Colonies  who  has  a  cool  head  thinks 
it  possible  they  coidd  long  subsist  if  Britain  should  leave 
them  to  themselves ;  much  less,  that  they  could  main- 
tain their  independence  contrary  to  the  mind  of  the 
nation :  but  our  misfortune  is  the  different  apprehen- 
sion of  the  nature  and  degree  of  our  dependence.  I 
wish  to  see  it  settled,  known,  and  admitted;  for  while 
the  rules  of  law  are  vague  and  uncertain,  especially  in 
such  fundamental  points,  our  condition  is  deplorable  in 
general.  But  no  particular  part  of  the  community  have 
so  difficult  a  task,  and  are  so  exposed  to  censure,  maHce, 
and  personal  resentment,  as  those  persons  who  are  the 
judges  of  the  law.  Some  think  we  may  continue  in  this 
state  until  the  Colonies  arrive  to  manhood,  when  the  pa- 
rental right  of  control  will  determine  [end].  It  is  not 
possible.  Our  internal  disquiet  will  make  the  body  of 
the  people  wish  to  have  the  point  determined,  although 


122  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1767 

it  should  not  be  done  exactly  to  their  own  sentiment. 
I  have  in  some  degree  relieved  myself  from  my  anxiety 
the-  last  year,  by  applying  my  leisure  time  to  completing 
a  second  volume  of  the  history  of  the  Province  to  the 
year  1750,  which  is  now  ready  for  thie  press."  ^ 

To  this  letter  the  statement  of  Hutchinson  in  the 
History  respecting  the  position  that  the  Province  had 
come  generally  to  occupy  by  1767  forms  an  excellent 
supplement.  The  authority  of  Parliament  to  pass  any 
acts  whatever  affecting  the  interior  polity  of  the  Col- 
onies is,  he  says,  challenged,  as  destroying  the  effect 
of  the  charters,  to  which  great  sacredness  is  attached. 
People  have  been  induced  to  settle  in  the  plantations 
on  the  strength  of  the  charters,  relying  on  the  continu- 
ance of  the  privileges.  King,  Lords,  and  Commons 
form  the  legislature  of  Great  Britain:  the  Governor, 
who  is  the  King's  representative,  the  Council,  and  the 
Assembly  form  the  legislature  of  the  Colony.  But  as 
Colonies  cannot  make  laws  to  extend  further  than  their 
respective  limits.  Parliament  must  step  in  in  all  cases 
to  which  the  legislative  power  of  the  Colonies  does  not 
extend.  Parliament  ought  to  go  no  farther  than  this : 
all  beyond  is  infringing  upon  the  domain  of  the  colo- 
nial legfislatures.  From  Virginia  to  Massachusetts  this 
has  now  come  to  be  the  accejDted  doctrine.^ 

Hutchinson's  demand  of  the  legfislature  for  com- 
pensation  for  the  destruction  of  his  house,  made  for- 
mally October  29,  17G6,  was  at  last  effectual.^     He  is 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  257. 
-  Hist,  of  Mass.  Bay,  vol.  iii.,  p.  172. 

^  "  In   Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  and  New  York,  the  Assemblies 
slowly  and  unwillingly  complied  with  the  injunction  of  the  Secretary  of 


1767]  THE  END  OF  BERNARD.  123 

said  to  have  received  £3,194  17s.  6d.,  a  fair  indemnity. 
After  some  discussion  of  the  plan  of  a  lottery  to  raise 
the  means,  an  expedient  which  in  those  days  no  one 
thought  questionable,  an  Act  was  passed  to  make  the 
grant  directly,  which,  however,  had  for  a  "  rider  "  par- 
don to  all  who  had  taken  part  in  the  disturbances  con- 
nected with  the  Stamp  Act.  This  rider  was  the  work 
of  Hawley  ;  he  was  gi-eatly  interested  to  clear  certain 
rioters  in  Hampshire  County,  who  had  employed  him 
as  their  counsel.  Though  Hawley  did  not  appear  to 
wish  to  excuse  them  from  all  blame,  he  yet  ui-ged  that 
the  basis  of  the  trouble  was  the  unjust  law  which,  in 
unthinking  minds,  must  necessarily  work  exasperation 
sure  to  go  great  lengths.  Bernard  hesitated  to  sign 
the  Act,  but  was  finally  induced  to  do  so  by  his  earnest 
wish  to  have  Hutchinson  receive  justice.  When  the 
Act  was  sent  to  England,  the  King  disallowed  it ;  such 
lawlessness  coidd  not  be  condoned  even  that  a  faith- 
ful official  might  receive  his  rights.  But  the  money 
had  been  paid  before  the  news  of  the  King's  displeas- 
ure arrived. 

Rockingham's  ministry,  marked  by  the  repeal  of  the 
Stamp  Act  and  the  passage  of  the  Declaratory  Act, 
after  a  few  months  was  succeeded  by  a  government 
which  contained  indeed  Pitt,  now  the  Earl  of  Chat- 
ham, but  the  leader  in  which  was  Charles  Townshend, 
Chatham  being  incapacitated  through  infirmity.  Town- 
State  to  award  compensation  to  the  sufferers  by  the  recent  riots."  Lord 
Mahon  :  Hist,  of  Eng.,  vol.  v.,  p.  145.  The  Massachusetts  Arcliives  con- 
tain a  minute  inventory  of  the  contents  of  the  destroyed  house,  drawn  np 
by  Hutchinson  himself,  in  many  ways  a  curious  and  interesting  list.  Vol. 
marked  Colonial,  vol.  vi.,  1724-1776  ;  this  is  given  in  Appendix  A. 


124  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1767 

shend  had  no  patience  with  colonial  restiveness ;  nor 
was  he  at  all  under  the  sway  of  the  great  chief  at  his 
side,  now  fast  sinking  toward  his  grave.  He  made  light 
of  the  distinction  sought  to  be  drawn  between  external 
and  internal  taxes,  as  a  distinction  without  a  difference  ; 
but  in  levying  a  tax,  destined  to  have  momentous  con- 
sequences, he  declared  he  would  humor  the  Americans : 
to  external  taxes  they  had  professed  a  readiness  to  sub- 
mit ;  his  tax  should  be  external,  upon  paper,  glass, 
red  and  white  lead,  painters'  colors,  and  lastly  upon  tea. 
Here,  said  Townshend,  the  colonists  shall  have  things 
to  their  advantage.  The  export  duty  on  tea,  payable 
in  England,  of  12d.  a  pound,  was  taken  off  entirely ; 
an  import  duty  of  3d.,  to  be  collected  in  the  Colonies 
themselves,  being  imposed  in  its  place.  Tea  regularly 
obtained,  therefore,  was  to  be  had  more  cheaply  than 
before.  But  a  principle  was  infringed.  The  ideas  of 
the  colonists  were  shifting ;  they  had  come  to  feel,  as 
well  as  Townshend,  that  the  distinction  between  external 
and  internal  taxes  could  not  be  made,  even  though 
it  was  doctrine  taught  by  Pitt  and  FrankHn. 

The  new  measiu-e  brought  all  the  old  feeling  into 
life  once  more,  the  consideration  of  advantage  count- 
ing for  little,  no  doubt,  from  the  fact  that  thus  far  it 
had  been  possible  to  get  at  a  cheap  rate  much  smug- 
gled tea,  through  the  Dutch.  Hutchinson  approved  of 
Townshend' s  tax  no  more  than  he  did  of  the  Stamp 
Act,  his  ground  consistently  being  that  though  it  was 
right  for  the  Supreme  Legislature  to  impose  it,  it  was 
impohtic  :  having  been  imposed,  however,  he  thought 
it  should  be  enforced.^     It  was  sought  through  Town- 

1  Hist.  vol.  iii.,  p.  178. 


1767]  THE   END   OF  BERNARD.  125 

shend's  taxes  to  obtain  means  to  defray  the  salaries 
of  a  civil  list.  Officers  in  the  civil  and  jndicial  ser- 
vices were  to  be  paid  from  the  proceeds,  in  that  way 
being  freed  from  dependence  upon  the  legislatures, 
though  still  supported  by  the  Colonies.  Townshend 
further  provided  for  the  establishment  of  a  Board  of 
Commissioners  of  Customs,  with  large  powers,  to  super- 
intend all  the  laws  relating  to  trade,  members  of  which 
were  Paxton,  Robinson,  and  Temple,  characters  who 
will  hereafter  appear  in  our  story.  Still  another  blow 
that  Townshend  struck  was  a  suspension  of  the  legis- 
lature of  New  York  for  contumacy  in  the  treatment  of 
royal  troops  that  had  been  ordered  to  that  Province. 
These  Acts  were  accomplished  on  the  13th  of  May. 
Soon  after,  the  rash  and  briUiant  young  statesman,  for 
whom  a  career  of  prominence,  though  hardly  of  useful- 
ness, might  have  been  hoped,  died. 

The  following  letter  written  at  this  juncture  by 
Thomas  Pownall  is  interesting,  as  the  expression  of  a 
sensible  man  and  a  well-wisher  to  America,  who  favored 
its  representation  in  Parliament.  After  acknowledg- 
ing the  second  volume  of  Hutchinson's  History  he  writes, 
London,  September  9,  1767  :  — 

"  Without  your  knowledge  or  application  I  took  the 
liberty  upon  the  establishment  of  the  Board  of  Rev- 
enue in  America,  to  apply  to  have  you  named  as  one, 
and  as  I  wrote  you  in  my  last,  I  thought  it  was  decided 
that  you  were  to  be  named,  and  to  be  first.  I  did  not, 
indeed,  totally  rely  on  it,  as  you  will  have  seen  by  my 
last ;  and  the  Duke  of  Grafton's  letter  decides  that 
point.     However,  I  may  venture  to  explain  to  you  the 


126  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1767 

first  part  of  his  letter.  It  is  meant  that  you  shall  have 
a  handsome  salary  fixed  as  Chief  Justice,  as  soon  as  the 
American  revenue  shall  create  a  fund.  I  think  on  that 
occasion  it  would  be  right  to  solicit  a  patent  from  the 
Crown  for  that  place.  If  all  on  this  last  ground  suc- 
ceeds as  meant,  I  think  't  will  be  much  better  for  you, 
and  what  you  will  like  better. 

'^  If  the  people  of  the  Province  would  be  advised,  one 
mioht  serve  them  and  the  Colonies  in  o;eneral.  The 
point  of  being  exempt  from  being  taxed  by  Parliament 
they  will  never  carry,  but  will  every  time  lose  something 
by  the  struggle.  The  point  of  having  representatives, 
if  pursued  prudently,  and  in  the  right  line,  I  am  sure 
they  might  and  ought  to  carry.  And  whatever  they 
may  think  of  keeping  the  power  of  taxing  themselves 
by  their  own  legislatures  in  general  matters,  exclusive 
of  Parliament,  they  will  be  disappointed,  and  by  aiming 
at  the  shadow  lose  the  substance.  Now,  from  principle 
of  opinion,  thinking  it  best  both  for  Great  Britain  and 
the  Colonies,  on  the  plan  of  a  general  union  of  the 
parts,  I  shall  always  support  the  doctrine  of  the  Col- 
onies sending  representatives  to  Parhament.  I  have 
done,  and  shall  do  it  as  long  as  I  am  in  Parliament, 
both  in  Parliament  and  out  of  the  House.  From  prin- 
ciple of  affection  and  gratitude,  I  shall  ever  support 
and  defend  the  people  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  as  I 
did  last  sessions,  when  some  people  were  for  extending 
the  censure  laid  on  New  York  to  the  Massachusetts."  ^ 

Resistance  was  manifest  as  soon  as  the  news  of  the 
new  duties  was  received.     As  the  Town-Meetings  gath- 

^  Mass.  Hist.  Society  Coll.,  3d  series,  vol.  i.,  pp.  148,  149. 


1767]  THE  END   OF  BERNARD.  127 

ered,  men  became  familiarized  with  the  advanced  posi- 
tions toward  which  the  leading  miiids  were  so  swiftly 
making  their  way.  Otis  and  Samuel  Adams  swayed 
the  crowds  in  Faneuil  Hall,  the  one  by  his  eloquence 
and  straightforward  personal  force,  the  other  by  ways 
more  subtle  and  indirect,  but  no  less  effective.  Hawley 
held  a  similar  place  at  Northampton  ;  so,  too,  James 
Warren,  brother-in-law  of  Otis,  at  Plymouth  ;  and  John 
Adams,  at  Braintree.  When  the  towns  came  together 
at  the  Boston  State  House  in  their  delegates,  Otis, 
Adams,  and  Hawley  were  there  again  in  the  front  as 
they  had  been  at  home.  Committees  of  Corresj^ondence 
in  the  various  colonial  legislatures  were  taking  form, 
and  already  knitting  the  bond  which  was  to  grow  into 
the  Union.  As  the  year  went  on,  the  air  was  full  of 
"  non-importation."  Rather  than  pay  the  taxes  imposed 
by  a  body  in  which  they  were  not  represented,  the 
people  would  renounce.  The  use  of  superfluities,  enu- 
merated in  long  lists,  was  reduced.  All  was  done 
that  could  be  done  to  stimulate  colonial  manufactures. 
Active  minds  were  at  work  in  the  newspapers,  the  most 
radical  spirit  in  these  preliminary  days  being  the  youth 
of  twenty-three,  Josiah  Quincy,  a  touch  of  whose  fer- 
vor we  have  already  felt  the  force  of.  He  went  so  far 
as  to  advocate  even  at  this  time  an  armed  resistance,  — 
over-hot  counsel,  which  no  one  was  ready  to  follow. 

In  spite  of  all,  however,  a  good  degree  of  quiet  pre- 
vailed. The  non-consumption  arrangements  were  not 
to  go  into  operation  ULntil  the  end  of  the  year.  The 
Tories  took  great  encouragement  from  the  course  pur- 
sued in  the  fall  by  James  Otis,  who  made  a  speech  then 


128  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1767 

thought  to  be  quite  reactionary,  but  which  is  really  con- 
sistent enouofh  with  all  he  had  ever  claimed.  In  Town- 
Meeting,  November  20,  he  asserted  in  a  long  harangue 
the  right  of  the  King  to  appoint  officers  of  customs  in 
what  number  and  by  what  name  he  pleased,  and  declared 
it  inexpedient  to  oppose  the  new  duties.  What  the  Col- 
onies should  demand  was  representation  in  the  taxing 
body.  Pownall  would  have  said  the  same  thing.  Two 
years  before,  probably  few  persons  in  the  Province  would 
have  taken  other  ground.  The  duties  were  plainly  exter- 
nal ;  to  cavil  at  such  duties  was  a  very  recent  matter.  To 
enforce  them,  of  course,  there  must  be  officials.  Hutch- 
inson's position  was  that,  though  justified  by  precedent, 
the  laying  of  such  duties  by  Parliament  was  inexpe- 
dient ;  when  laid,  however,  it  was  inexpedient  in  the 
Colonies  to  resist.  The  point  where  Otis  and  Hutch- 
inson differed  was  as  to  representation  in  the  taxing 
body,  which  Otis  so  fiercely  fought  for.  Hutchinson 
would  have  been  glad  to  have  the  representation,  had  it 
been  practicable ;  since  it  seemed  impracticable,  he  was 
quite  ready  to  take  up  with  Mansfield's  doctrine  of 
"  virtual  representation." 

How  hoUow  the  opposition  to  Hutchinson  was,  on 
the  score  that  he  filled  so  many  functions,  appears  from 
the  fact,  which  one  has  frequently  to  note  in  studying 
his  career,  that  in  a  remarkable  way,  whenever  an  occa- 
sion comes  up  demanding  prudent  management  upon 
which  large  interests  depend,  no  one  but  Hutchinson 
can  be  trusted  to  transact  the  business.  We  have  seen 
heretofore  ^  that,  had  he  been  properly  seconded,  he 

1  See  p.  17. 


1768]  THE  END   OF  BERNARD.  129 

woiild  have  made  a  satisfactory  settlement  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts boundary  on  the  side  of  New  Hampshire. 
Afterwards  he  had  settled  it  on  the  side  of  Connecticut; 
then  Rhode  Island.  A  still  more  difficult  negotiation 
remained  with  New  York ;  and  in  this  year  the  Province 
was  wiUino;  to  commit  this  dehcate  task  to  no  one  but 
him.  Associated  in  a  commission  with  Brattle  and 
Sheaffe,  respectable  but  inconspicuous  citizens,  who  were 
expected  to  be  Httle  more  than  lay  figures  in  the  trans- 
action, Hutchinson  met  in  October  the  New  York  com- 
missioners at  New  Haven.  He  demanded  that  the 
western  Hue  of  Massachusetts  should  be  twelve  miles 
east  from  the  Hudson  River;  New  York  demanded  a 
line  thirty  miles  east  of  the  river.  It  was  not  possible 
at  this  time  to  hit  upon  any  compromise.^  The  final 
settlement  six  years  later  by  Hutchinson  was,  as  we 
shall  see,  the  last  important  service  he  was  to  render  to 
his  country. 

Hutchinson  was  not  long  in  recognizing  Samuel 
Adams  as  the  "Chief  Incendiary"  among  the  more 
ardent  spirits  of  the  Whigs ;  and  in  the  winter  session 
of  the  legislature,  1767-68,  there  came  from  the  hand 
of  Adams,  writing  for  the  Assembly,  two  documents 
which  made  it  certain  that  submission  to  Townshend's 
poUcy,  now  adopted  by  Lord  North,  who  after  Town- 
shend's death  came  into  his  place,  would  not  be  thought 
of.  The  first  of  these  missives  was  a  letter  to  Dennys 
Deberdt,  the  London  agent  of  the  Assembly.  The 
lower  House,  which  increased  all  the  time  in  influence 

^  See  Hutchinson's  autograph  report,  Mass.  Archiv.  (Colonial,  1721- 
1768),  vol.  iv.,  p.  217. 


130  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1768 

and  size  (the  new  towns,  as  the  Province  grew,  sending 
members,  while  the  Council  remained  at  twenty-eight, 
the  nmnber  ordained  by  the  charter),  had  lately  set  up 
an  agent  of  its  own,  although  until  now  one  agent  had 
sufficed  for  the  whole  lesfislature.  The  letter  was  in- 
tended  to  be  published  :  it  was,  in  fact,  a  manifesto  to 
the  King,  government,  and  people  of  England.  There 
is  no  hint  in  the  paper  at  a  disruption  from  the  mother 
country,  toward  which  an  "  English  affection  "  is  pro- 
fessed. The  injustice  of  taxation  without  representa- 
tion is  dwelt  upon,  and  the  impossibility  of  colonial 
representation  in  Parliament  made  plain.  A  voluntary 
subsidy  is  suggested  as  the  only  proper  way  in  which 
a  revenue  can  be  gained  from  the  Colonies.  In  an  en- 
ergetic passage,  speaking  of  the  appointment  of  an 
American  bishop,  which  had  so  long  been  threatened, 
the  Assembly  "  hopes  in  God  such  an  establishment 
will  never  take  place  in  America.  .  .  .  The  revenue 
raised  in  America,  for  aught  we  can  tell,  may  be  as 
constitutionally  applied  towards  the  support  of  prelacy 
as  of  soldiers  and  pensioners;"  that  would,  indeed,  cap 
the  climax !  In  still  other  passages,  after  citing  as  a 
grievance  the  estabhshment  of  the  Board  of  Customs 
Commissions,  the  impropriety  of  giving  to  Governors 
and  judges  stipends  from  other  sources  than  distinct 
legislative  appropriations  is  asserted  ;  and  here  the 
writer  must  have  had  Hutchinson  particularly  in  his 
mind,  for  it  had  been  proposed  to  pay  him  as  Chief 
Justice  a  salary  of  £200  from  the  proceeds  of  Town- 
shend's  taxes, — this  to  take  the  place  of  the  .£150  to 
which  he  was  entitled  from  legislative  appropriation,  a 


1768]  THE  END   OF  BERNARD.  131 

sum  from  which  £30  was  often  deducted,  and  which 
w\T,s  hable  to  be  withheld  entirely.  The  adroit  hand  by 
which  the  epistle  was  penned  caused  it  to  be  provided 
with  qualities  which  now  and  henceforth  mark  the  state 
papers  of  the  Massachusetts  Assembly,  —  a  superficial 
gloss  of  courtesy  spread  over  an  uncompromising  state- 
ment of  advanced  political  ideas,  —  each  sentence  cool, 
polished,  and  even,  but  driving  at  the  mark  with  utter 
plainness,  mth  wide  knowledge  of  appropriate  examples 
from  past  history,  with  inflexible  purpose  to  win. 

The  Cu'cular  Letter  with  which  the  one  to  Deberdt  was 
associated  in  time  was  sent  to  each  House  of  Represen- 
tatives in  the  Thirteen  Colonies.  A  large  majority  of 
the  Assembly  had  shrunk  from  the  idea  of  such  a  meas- 
ure when  it  was  first  proposed,  well  knowing  the  jeal- 
ousy with  which  any  approach  to  a  banding  together 
of  the  Colonies  was  sure  to  be  received  at  home.  A 
change,  however,  was  soon  wrought,  and  in  little  more 
than  a  fortnight  from  the  inception  of  the  idea  the  let- 
ter was  ready  for  sending.  The  Colonies  were  urged  to 
concert  a  uniform  plan  for  remonstrances  against  the 
government  policy.  What  Massachusetts  had  done 
was  detailed,  and  information  asked  as  to  w^hat  had 
been  done  elsewhere.  With  all  possible  tact  the  idea 
of  assimiing  leadership  was  disclaimed,  and  local  sensi- 
tiveness soothed  into  repose.  It  was  at  once  dispatched, 
and  at  once  met  with  a  good  response,  while  preroga- 
tive men  in  all  the  Provinces  were  correspondingly  ex- 
asperated. Representations  went  to  England  that 
stringent  measures  were  imperative.  Bernard  in  par- 
ticular was  outraged,  enlarging  in  his  communication 


132  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1768 

upon  the  older  grievance,  the  determmation  to  exckide 
all  Crown  officers  from  the  Council.  These  sentiments 
he  expressed  without  reserve,  and  from  this  time  until 
the  day  of  his  departure,  his  relations  with  his  charge 
were  bad  as  bad  could  be.  The  voice  through  which 
the  popular  animosity  in  particular  found  expression 
at  this  time  was  that  of  Joseph  Warren,  a  young  phy- 
sician, twenty-seven  years  old,  for  some  time  a  writer 
for  the  papers,  but  who  now  first  created  a  sensation 
by  the  following  vehement  arraignment  in  the  "Boston 
Gazette  "  of  February  29,  1768. 

"  We  have  for  a  long  time  known  your  enmity  to 
this  Province.  We  have  had  full  proof  of  yoiu'  cruelty 
to  a  loyal  people.  No  age  has,  perhaps,  furnished  a 
more  glaring  instance  of  obstinate  perseverance  in  the 
path  of  mahce.  .  .  .  Could  you  have  reaped  any  ad- 
vantage from  injuring  this  people,  there  would  have 
been  some  excuse  for  the  manifold  abuses  with  which 
you  have  loaded  them.  But  when  a  diabolical  thirst 
for  mischief  is  the  alone  motive  of  your  conduct,  you 
must  not  wonder  if  you  are  treated  with  open  dislike ; 
for  it  is  impossible,  how  much  soever  we  endeavor  it, 
to  feel  any  esteem  for  a  man  like  you.  .  .  .  Nothing 
has  ever  been  more  intolerable  than  your  insolence 
upon  a  late  occasion,  when  you  had,  by  your  Jesuitical 
insinuations,  induced  a  worthy  minister  of  state  to 
form  a  most  unfavorable  opinion  of  the  Province  in 
general,  and  some  of  the  most  respectable  inhabitants 
in  particular.  You  had  the  effrontery  to  produce  a 
letter  from  his  lordship  as  a  proof  of  your  success  in 


1768]  THE   END   OF  BERXAllD.  133 

calumniating  us.  .  .  .  We  never  can  treat  good  and 
patriotic  rulers  with  too  great  reverence.  But  it  is  cer- 
tain that  men  totally  abandoned  to  wickedness  can 
never  merit  our  regard,  be  their  stations  ever  so  higlio 

'  If  such  men  are  by  God  appointed, 
The  Devil  may  be  the  Lord's  anointed.' 

A  True  Patriot."^ 

If  ever  a  man's  friends  had  cause  to  fly  to  his  rescue, 
those  of  the  Governor  had  such  cause,  in  the  appear-^ 
ance  of  an  attack  so  utterly  intemperate.  A  man  of 
refinement  and  good  purposes,  who  had  done  well  in  his 
place  in  many  ways,  and  who  at  first  had  received  from 
the  people  committed  to  him  many  evidences  of  friend- 
liness, was  struck  at  in  this  unqualified  diatribe.  Hutch- 
inson w^ould  have  been  neither  true  man  nor  proper 
judge  had  he  failed  to  do  what  he  straightway  did,  try 
to  induce  the  grand  jury  to  indict  Warren  for  libeL 
The  jury,  however,  retui-ned  "  ignoramus."  The  in- 
censed Governor  was  forced  to  stomach  the  affront, 
which  was  only  the  first  blast  of  a  storm  of  abuse 
directed  ao:ainst  him  durino-  the  rest  of  his  American 
sojourn.  It  was  sought  to  enforce  the  taxes,  for  the 
effective  collection  of  which  the  Writs  of  Assistance 
were  fully  legalized  and  put  into  operation.  The  air 
was  full  of  rebellion  ;  and  Hutchinson  notes  in  the 
History  with  an  approach  to  a  chuckle,  that  even  the 
Harvard  students,  under  their  Liberty-tree,  decreed  that 
the  rule  of  the  faculty  was  unconstitutional.  This  was 
fire  in  their  own  camp  :  here  the  provincials  could  see 

1  Frothiugham  :  Life  of  Warren,  pp,  40,  41. 


134  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1768 

how  it  was  themselves.  Quite  inconsistently,  however, 
as  the  friends  of  the  government  no  doubt  thought,  the 
people  sustained  the  overseers  in  putting  down  the 
recalcitrant  young  men,  while  they  themselves  kicked 
sky-high  at  King  George  and  all  his  mandates.  As  the 
grand  jury  was  indifferent  to  Warren's  letter,  so  the 
leofislature  could  not  be  induced  to  notice  it.  Bernard 
prorogued  it  in  indignation;  not,  however,  until  resolu- 
tions had  been  passed  favoring  non-importation  and 
non-consumption  agreements.  The  only  break  in  una- 
nimity was  the  vote  of  bright  Timothy  Ruggles,  now 
and  always  a  Tory  of  the  bravest. 

The  letters  form  a  continuous  commentary  upon  the 
events  as  they  succeed  each  other.  We  are  rarely  at  a  loss 
to  understand  just  the  nature  of  Hutchinson's  connec- 
tion with  them,  or  his  judgment  of  men  and  measures. 
February  3,  he  writes  to  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  who 
had  proposed  to  him  a  seat  on  the  Board  of  Customs. 
The  pay  attracts  him,  being  more  than  three  times 
greater  than  his  uncertain  pittance  as  Chief  Justice.  In 
the  latter  place,  however,  he  can  do  more  to  head  off 
the  incendiaries.  "  I  will  do  as  your  Grace  thinks 
proper."  ^  With  a  premonition  of  great  trouble  in  store 
for  him  in  a  future  year,  he  declares,  February  17: 
"  When  we  write  with  freedom  it  is  of  importance  that  it 
should  not  be  known."  ^  March  23,  his  word  to  Jack- 
son, to  whom  many  of  his  best  letters  go,  runs  as  follows: 
"  The  claim  of  right  to  independence  of  Parliament  is 
now  become  almost  universal.  .  .  .  Either  my  brain  is 
turned,  or  the  brains  of  most  of  the  people  about  me 

^  M.A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  287.  ^  /jj^. 


1768]  THE  END   OF  BERNARD.  135 

are  so ; "  and  on  the  27tli,  lie  reasons  logically  to  the 
Duke  of  Grafton :  "  It  is  by  force  of  an  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment that  all  the  Princes  since  the  Revolution  [of 
1688]  have  been  sovereign,  .  .  .  and  I  cannot  see  why 
the  advocates  for  sedition  may  not  with  equal  reason 
make  one  step  more,  and  deny  the  regal  as  well  as  par- 
liamentary authority,  although  I  do  not  think  a  man  of 
them  at  present  has  it  in  his  thoughts." 

March  was  marked  by  riots,  which  proved  once  more 
that  side  by  side  with  the  community  of  intelligent  and 
law-abiding  men  dwelt  a  mob  as  brutal  as  that  of  Lon- 
don. When  the  drunken,  blasphemous  horde  poured 
up  from  the  waterside  into  the  better  streets,  the  officials 
had  good  reason  to  feel  they  held  their  lives  in  their 
hands.  Though  banned  as  a  Tory,  Hutchinson's  pop- 
ularity was  not  yet  entirely  wrecked.  It  cost  the  patri- 
ots a  hard  fight  to  defeat  him  for  the  Council  this  year, 
in  the  election  for  which  he  fell  short  only  three  votes. 
June  17,  he  writes  about  it  to  the  Duke  of  Grafton : 
"  Our  great  incendiary  [Otis]  was  enraged  and  ran 
about  the  House  in  a  fury,  with  votes  for  my  competitor, 
crying, '  Pensioner,  or  no  Pensioner.'  "  He  was  charged 
with  receiving  a  salary  from  the  Crown,  or  being  about 
to  do  so,  and  this  was  what  defeated  hmi.  Some  months 
before,  in  the  perturbed  condition  of  the  Colonies,  the 
Earl  of  Hillsborough  had  been  made  a  special  secretary 
for  colonial  affairs,  and  at  present  his  name  fills  a  large 
space  on  the  English  side.  He  transmits  to  Bernard 
the  royal  instructions  for  the  treatment  of  the  Circular 
Letter,  which  was  regarded  as  distinctly  seditious.  Vir- 
ginia, New  Jersey,  Connecticut,  and  Georgia  early  re- 


136  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1768 

plied  to  the  Letter  in  cordial  terms,  and  there  was  no 
doubt  that  other  Colonies  would  soon  do  the  same. 
Bernard,  following  his  instructions,  required  that  the  Cir- 
eidar  Letter  should  be  at  once  rescinded.  When  it  came 
to  a  vote,  the  Assembly  refused  to  rescind  by  ninety- 
,  two  to  seventeen.  Some  of  those  who  had  disapproved 
of  the  Circular  Letter  were  now  in  the  majority  against 
rescinding,  the  position  taken  being  that  royal  dictation 
shoidd  not  be  submitted  to.  Bernard's  instructions  were 
to  prorogue  as  long  as  contumacy  existed.  This  he  did, 
becomino'  odious  to  the  last  dearree.  He  was  believed 
to  have  brought  the  mandate  upon  the  Assembly  by 
his  "  misrepresentations,"  though  the  journals  of  the 
House  told  the  whole  story  with  sufficient  plainness. 
Hutchinson  says  the  Governor  really  tried  to  make 
things  easy  for  the  people  to  such  an  extent  that  his 
friends  thouaht  he  would  be  censured  in  Enofland.  He 
was,  however,  clamored  against  in  Massachusetts  as  the 
sole  cause.  Moreover,  he  was  censured  for  receiving 
the  Customs  Commissioners  into  the  Castle  ;  and  when 
the  fleet  in  the  harbor  moored  so  as  to  command  that 
fortress  with  their  guns,  he  was  censured  for  doubting 
the  fidehty  of  the  Provincial  troops  who  formed  the 
garrison.  The  legislature  adjourned,  and  Bernard  nat- 
urally began  to  feel  that  another  jjosition  might  be 
more  agreeable,  if  less  lucrative.  His  dejDarture  would 
bring  Hutchinson  once  more  to  the  front,  as  had  been 
the  case  before,  at  the  departure  of  Pownall.  For 
some  months  more,  however,  Hutchinson  was  to  remain 
in  the  second  place. 

One  of  his  contemporaneous  comments  on  events  is 


1768]  THE  END   OF  BERNARD.  137 

as  follows.  July  14,  to  Jackson  :  "  Whatever  measures 
you  may  take  to  maintain  the  authority  of  Parliament, 
give  me  leave  to  pray  they  may  be  accompanied  with 
a  declaration  that  it  is  not  the  intention  of  Parliament 
to  deprive  the  Colonies  of  their  subordinate  power  of 
legislation,  nor  to  exercise  the  supreme  legislative  power, 
except  in  such  cases  and  upon  such  occasions  as  an 
equitable  regard  to  the  interests  of  the  whole  empire 

shall    make    necessary My  hopes  of   tranquillity 

have  been  confined  to  one  plan,  —  that  we  should  be 
convinced  the  Parliament  will  not  give  up  their  author- 
ity ;  and  then  find  by  experience  that  it  is  exercised  in 
the  same  gentle,  tender  manner  that  a  parent  exercises 
his  authority  over  his  children."  ^ 

There  is  perhaps  no  better  statement  by  Hutchinson 
of  his  view  than  the  foregoing,  and  the  reader  is  asked 
to  consider  it  well.  England  to-day  is  commended  for 
her  attitude  to  her  dependencies;  and  the  idea  has  often 
been  expressed  that,  had  she  stood  in  the  same  attitude 
toward  the  Thirteen  Colonies,  the  Anglo-Saxon  schism 
need  never  have  taken  place.  What  is  Hutchinson's 
notion  but  that  England  should  stand  toward  America 
as  she  does  toward  her  dependencies  to-day, — the  Col- 
onies to  legislate  for  themselves  without  interference 
except  when  the  interests  of  the  whole  empire  are  con- 
cerned ?  the  authority  of  Parliament,  if  ever  exercised, 
to  be  exercised  with  the  gentle  tenderness  of  a  parent, 
until  the  day  came  when  it  might  entirely  disappear? 

The  legislature  refused  to  rescind  the  Circular  Letter, 
and  stood  prorogued,  the  Governor's  instructions  mak- 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  313. 


138  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1768 

ing  it  necessary  for  him  to  prorogue  while  contumacy 
existed.  General  Gage,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
forces  in  America,  stationed  at  New  York,  had  orders 
from  home  to  bring  troops  to  bear.  Ships  of  war  were 
also  sent  to  Boston,  the  first  arrival  taking  place  in 
May.  It  was  the  fifty-gun  ship  Romney  which  sig- 
nalized its  approach  through  New  England  waters  by 
attempting  impressments,  a  procedure  sure  to  aggravate 
the  popular  fever.  When  John  Hancock's  sloop,  the 
Liberty,  soon  after  fell  into  difficulties  for  violating 
the  revenue  laws,  the  trouble  at  once  became  acute. 
The  Commissioners  of  Customs  went  to  the  Castle, 
and  Bernard  to  his  house  in  Koxbury ;  while  Demos 
in  Faneuil  Hall  or  the  Old  South  growled  and  grum- 
bled ominously  in  its  bitter  discontent.  Restrictive 
laws  had  wrouofht  their  usual  effect.  Trade  had  become 
to  a  large  extent  lawbreaking,  and  from  that  flowed 
coinous  demoralization.  "  We  have  been  so  long  habit- 
uated," says  Hutchinson  in  November,  "  to  illicit  trade, 
that  people  in  general  see  no  evil  in  it.  Justices  and 
grand  juries,  whose  business  it  is  to  suppress  riots  and 
tumultuous  assemblies,  have  suffered  mobs  against  in- 
formers and  to  rescue  seized  goods,  to  pass  unnoticed. 
Breach  of  law  in  one  instance  leads  to  others,  and  a 
breach  of  oaths  at  the  custom-house  is  one  cause  of  so 
frequent  perjuries  injudicial  proceedings.  That  temper 
which  for  many  years  has  been  too  prevalent,  of  dislike 
to  all  government,  is  very  much  encouraged,  as  well  as 
a  disregard  to  the  rules  of  morality  in  general."  ^ 

The  Boston  world  was  becoming  more  and  more  out 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  325. 


1768]  THE  END  OF  BERNARD.  139 

of  joint,  and  in  the  trouble  none  were  in  so  poor  a  pli<]fht 
as  the  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor,  held,  as  they 
were,  responsible  for  measures  of  repression  which  they 
did  not  approve,^  which  they  felt  must  aggravate  the 
difficulty,  and  which  they  sought  to  carry  out  only 
because  their  official  oaths  made  them  of  necessity  the 
instruments  of  the  ministry  behind  them.  Why  could 
they  not  resign?  Bernard  already  had  resignation  in 
his  thoughts.  Wanting  sympathy  with  the  government 
he  represented,  wanting  sympathy  with  the  people  in 
his  charge,  who  had  no  appreciation  of  his  effort  in 
their  behalf  to  mitigate  the  severity,  he  was  soon  to 
withdraw.  His  companion,  thinking  it  his  duty  to  stay, 
was  destined  to  continue  the  struggle  five  years  longer, 
hoping  against  hope  all  the  time,  on  the  one  hand,  that 
the  government  would  become  more  moderate,  and  on 
the  other  hand,  that  the  people  would  become  less  punc- 
tilious as  regarded  the  letter  of  their  rights. 

Since  the  legislature  must  of  necessity  be  prorogued 
until  the  Circular  Letter  was  rescinded,  in  the  summer 
Massachusetts  Bay  had  no  legislature  practically,  and 
Boston  Town-Meeting,  with  characteristic  boldness  and 
enterprise,  set  on  foot  an  expedient  to  meet  the  situa- 
tion. This  was  to  call  a  convention  of  the  towns  of 
the  Province  for  September,  the  understanding  being 
that  Boston  should  be  the  place  of  assembly,  and  the 
delegates  the  Representatives  legally  elected  for  the 
General  Court.  It  was,  in  fact,  convening  the  General 
Court  at  the  instance  of  a  town,  the  agency  in  the 
matter  of  the  Governor,  who  by  the  charter  alone  had 

^  Hutchinson  :  Hist.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  197,  etc. 


140  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1768 

the  power  to  summon,  being  entirely  dispensed  with. 
There  was  a  precedent  for  such  action  in  the  revohi- 
tionary  year  1688,  an  ominous  date.  Four  hundred 
muskets  lay  on  the  floor  of  Faneuil  Hall  at  the  meeting, 
over  which,  as  usual,  Otis  presided.  Two  royal  ships 
suddenly  left  the  harbor,  on  the  other  hand,  the  under- 
standing being  that  they  were  dispatched  to  Halifax 
for  troops.  September  22,  the  convention  assembled, 
nearly  a  hundred  towns  responding  to  the  call.  Otis 
here  was  faltering  and  uncertain,  embarrassing  action 
much  by  failmg  to  appear  in  the  first  days.  His  strange 
spell  was  unbroken  as  yet,  although  his  freaks  and 
vacillations  were  beyond  reason.  To  this  in  part,  and 
besides  to  a  natural  fear  before  the  unknown  threatening 
danger  from  the  impending  mihtary  occupation,  it  was 
due  that  the  country  members  held  back,  and  Samuel 
Adams,  with  his  knot  of  radicals,  was  forced  to  be  satis- 
fied with  what  seemed  to  them  a  maimed  result.  The 
manifesto  of  the  convention  was  moderate  ;  and  after 
a  session  of  a  week,  while  the  ships  bringing  the  troops 
were  sailing  up  the  harbor,  an  adjournment  came.  "  I 
assure  you,"  writes  Hutchinson  to  Bollan  in  November, 
"  that  Avhen  the  troops  arrived  we  were  upon  the  brink 
of  ruin,  and  their  arrival  prevented  some  most  extrava- 
gant measures.  The  party  now  say  they  were  not  in 
earnest."  ^ 

Part  of  the  thousand  men  in  the  Halifax  regmients, 
the  l-lth  and  29th,  were  encamped  on  the  Common, 
part  quartered  in  the  town-house  and  in  Faneuil  Hall. 
Of    course    no    hospitality    was    shown ;    the    supplies 

»  M.  A.  Hist.  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  328. 


1768]  THE   END   OF  BERNARD.  141 

demanded  could  not  be  obtained,  and  Dalrymple,  the 
Lieutenant-Colonel  in  command,  provided  for  his  men  at 
the  expense  of  the  Crown.  The  government  was  feeble 
and  fluctuating.  The  Assembly  was  practically  out 
of  existence  ;  the  Council,  whose  only  constitutional 
function  was  to  advise  and  assist  the  Governor,  as- 
sumed now  to  act  independently,  addressing  of  itself 
the  Commander-in-Chief,  who  came  from  New  York  to 
the  seat  of  trouble,  and  also  writing  to  Bollan  in  Eng- 
land, whom  they  named  as  their  agent.  As  the  year 
drew  to  a  close,  a  considerable  score  had  been  run  up 
by  the  Province,  which  the  King  and  his  friends  could 
by  no  means  overlook.  The  riotous  opposition  to  the 
laws  of  trade  and  the  new  Board  of  Commissioners  had 
been  frequent  and  flagrant.  The  Assembly  had  vin- 
dicated instead  of  rescinding  its  former  action  as  to  the 
Circular  Letter  and  the  practical  confederation  of  the 
Colonies.  The  illegal  convention  had  taken  place,  Avhich 
the  home  government  could  only  look  at  as  distinctly 
seditious.  The  Councilors  had  transcended  their  proper 
Hmits ;  from  satellites  of  the  Governor,  they  had  pre- 
sumed to  roU  away  into  space.  Not  strangely  Boston, 
whose  Town-Meeting  was  in  the  lead  in  all  this,  was 
declared  to  be  in  a  state  of  confusion,  and  Lords  and 
Commons  determined  to  maintain  inviolate  the  supreme 
authority  of  Parliament. 

As  always,  the  vigor  of  the  government  was  held  in 
check  by  a  back  fire,  which  requii-ed  to  be  faced  and 
fouo'ht  no  less  than  the  conflag^ration  before.  The 
dispute  in  England  between  the  popular  and  preroga- 
tive parties  was  scarcely  less  weU  defined    and  bitter 


142  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1768 

than  in  the  Colonies.  The  Boston  patriots,  being  as- 
sured from  beyond  sea  that  nothing  serious  would  ever 
be  done,  and  that  Townshend's  Act  was  likely  to  be  re- 
pealed like  the  Stamp  Act  before  it,  kept  a  bold  front. 
The  Town-Meetino;  demanded  to  know  from  Bernard 
what  representations  had  been  made  at  home,  that  they 
mioht  defend  themselves.  It  was  intended  Barre  should 
present  a  remonstrance  against  the  "  misrepresenta- 
tions "  and  the  sending  of  the  troops.  The  threat  to 
deport  the  Boston  leaders  to  England  and  try  them  for 
treason  according  to  a  long  disused  statute  of  Henry 
VIII.  was  presently  mocked  at,  as  were  also  the  unfor- 
tunate regiments,  as  soon  as  the  people  became  familiar 
with  theii'  presence.  Few,  if  any,  of  the  Loyalists,  says 
Hutchinson,  had  any  share  in  counseling  harsh  meas- 
ures. They  might  even  think  them  not  founded  in 
good  policy.^  The  hampered  government  seemed  unen- 
ergetic,  and  its  action  was  construed  as  timidity. 

Hutchinson  would  fain  in  these  days  have  pursued  a 
middle  course.  April  19,  1768  :  "  An  ingenious  writer 
who  would  keep  the  mean  between  a  slavish  subjection 
on  the  one  hand  and  absolute  independence  on  the 
other,  would  do  great  service.  Where  the  fundamen- 
tals of  a  constitution  are  unsettled  and  vague,  the  peo- 
ple must  be  miserable  indeed."  ^  He  loses  his  temper 
over  the  calumnies  of  unscrupulous  newsj)aper-writers. 
December,  1768 :  "  I  think  sometimes  we  have  a  dozen 
of  the  most  wicked  fellows  among  us  of  any  on  the 
globe.     They  stick  at  nothing."  ^     He  is  not  a  demo- 

1  Hist.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  221.  ^  m.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  303. 

8  Ibid.,  p.  332. 


17G9]  THE   END   OF   BERNARD.  143 

crat,  yet  by  no  means  unfriendly  to  freedom.  "  A  thirst 
for  liberty  seems  to  be  the  ruUng  passion,  not  only  of 
America,  but  of  the  present  age.  In  governments 
under  arbitrary  rule  it  may  have  a  salutary  effect,  but 
in  governments  where  as  much  freedom  is  enjoyed  as 
can  consist  with  the  ends  of  government,  as  was  the  case 
in  this  Province,  it  must  work  anarchy  and  confusion 
unless  there  be  some  external  power  to  restrain  it."  ^ 
Now  it  was  that  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Richard  Jackson, 
which  in  time  to  come  was  to  give  him  much  trouble. 
January  20 :  "I  never  think  of  the  measures  necessary 
for  the  peace  and  good  order  of  the  Colonies  without 
pain.  There  must  be  an  abridgment  of  what  is  called 
English  liberty.  I  relieve  myself  by  considering  that  in 
a  remove  from  a  state  of  nature  to  the  most  perfect 
state  of  government  there  must  be  a  oreat  restraint  of 
natural  Hberty.  I  doubt  whether  it  is  possible  to  pro- 
ject a  system  of  government  in  which  a  colony  3,000 
miles  distant  from  the  parent  state  shall  enjoy  all  the 
liberties  of  the  parent  state.  I  am  certain  I  have  never 
yet  seen  the  projection.  I  wish  to  see  the  good  of  the 
Colony  when  I  wish  to  see  some  restraint  of  liberty 
rather  than  the  convulsion  ...  I  am  sure  such  a 
breach  must  prove."  The  Town-Meetings  he  thought 
should  deal  with  local  interests,  and  were  in  these  days 
quite  overstepping  their  proper  functions.^  Yet  he  de- 
clares now,  as  he  came  in  later  years  to  asseverate  with 
all  possible  solemnity  :  "  I  have  never  proposed  an  alter- 
ation of  the  constitution.  I  rather  wished  for  some- 
thing to  show  them  the  danger  of  it  and  to  effect  a 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  Jan.  28,  1769.  ^  /jj^?.,  Aug.  18,  1769. 


144  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1769 

reformation.^  ...  If  we  could  be  prudent,  I  think 
I  may  say,  only  silent,  we  might  save  the  country  and 
retain  the  Rights  we  contend  for ;  or,  which  is  the  same 
thing:,  miofht  rest  assured  that  the  Parliament  would  not 
exercise  the  right  of  Taxing  which  they  claim  and  we 
may  be  assured  will  not  give  up  ;  but  if  we  go  on  deny- 
ing the  right  and  asserting  our  independence,  the  Na- 
tion will  by  force  compel  us  to  acknowledge  it.  I  wish 
this  force  may  be  kept  off  as  long  as  you  and  I  Hve."  ^ 
Whatever  awe  the  troops  inspired  at  their  first  com- 
ing soon  wore  off,  and  their  situation  before  long  be- 
came most  uncomfortable.  From  the  government  point 
of  view,  they  were  in  the  crisis  quite  indispensable. 
The  people  in  vast  majority  were  passionately  against 
the  laws  which  Bernard  and  the  officers  of  customs 
were  bound  by  their  oaths  to  administer.  They  were 
quite  isolated,  and  had  every  reason  to  be  afraid  for 
their  lives  from  mob  violence.  It  was  only  proper  pru- 
dence which  made  Bernard  again  and  again  go  to  his 
Roxbury  home,  and  the  customs-officers  seek  refuge  in 
the  Castle,  although  they  were  jeered  at  in  the  papers 
as  absconding  from  their  duty.  To  the  popular  cry 
that  the  prerogative  men  were  bringing  calamity  upon 
the  country  by  their  misrepresentations  of  the  state  of 
things  in  America,  Bernard  replied,  they  need  not  fear 
misrepresentations.  Nothing  could  be  worse  than  their 
own  declarations.  The  Assembly  was  convened  in 
May,  a  body  sullen  to  the  last  degree.  The  manifestoes 
of  the  Governor,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Council  and 
Assembly,  on  the  other,  were  full  of  warmth.     When 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  Feb.  26,  1169.  ^  Ibid.,  May  6,  1769. 


1769]  THE  END   OF  BERNARD.  145 

Council  and  Assembly  refused  to  go  to  business  because 
they  were  under  duress  from  the  close-at-hand  troops, 
Bernard  adjourned  them  to  Cambridge,  a  move  for 
which  there  was  a  precedent,  and  which  before  long 
was  to  be  memorably  repeated,  giving  rise  to  a  contro- 
versy with  which  soon  we  shall  have  much  to  do.  Ber- 
nard still  tried  to  be  conciliatory,  making  public  letters 
he  had  just  received,  with  the  tenor  of  which  he  no 
doubt  was  fully  in  sympathy.  The  administration  in 
England,  it  was  asserted,  was  disposed  to  reUeve  all  real 
grievances  as  to  revenue  acts :  no  further  taxes  were 
proposed,  and  those  still  in  force,  the  Townshend  taxes, 
namely,  on  paper,  paint,  glass,  and  tea,  were  quite  cer- 
tain to  be  greatly  mitigated.  The  legislative  authority 
of  Parliament  once  admitted,  all  might  go  well. 

The  cause  of  the  Colonies  was  forcefully  upheld 
across  the  water,  not  only  in  the  streets  of  London, 
but  also  in  Parliament,  where  the  most  effective  voice 
on  that  side  had  come  to  be  that  of  Edmund  Burke. 
Even  Grenville  declared  the  order  requiring  the  rescind- 
ing of  the  Circular  Letter  an  illegal  one.  Lord  North, 
however,  and  the  Earl  of  Hillsborough,  the  Secretary 
for  the  Colonies,  were  for  breaking  the  spirits  that  mur- 
mured ;  while  the  Duke  of  Bedford  was  active  in  favor 
of  carrying  to  England  the  ringleaders  for  ti'ial  among 
strangers.  Little  probably  would  have  resulted  but 
for  pressure  from  the  traders.  These,  finding  their 
American  business  ruined  by  the  non-importation 
agreements,  urged  that  Townshend's  taxes  should  go 
the  way  of  the  Stamp  Act,  and  this  at  last  to  a  great 
extent   came   about.     Paper,   paints,   and   glass   were 


146  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1769 

freed ;  but  to  make  it  clear  that  the  principle  was  not 
given  up,  the  tax  remained  on  tea,  a  scarcely  apprecia- 
ble impost  in  itself,  but  most  heavily  influential  among 
the  factors  that  brought  about  the  Anglo-Saxon  schism. 
But  Bernard's  American  days  were  over.  His  term 
in  Massachusetts  Bay  had  lasted  eleven  years,  during 
the  first  part  of  which,  as  Hutchinson  declared,  he 
won  much  favor.  Had  his  administration  ended  after 
five  years,  he  would  have  been  accounted  one  of  the 
best  of  the  Massachusetts  Governors.  But  as  determi- 
nation grew  among  the  people  to  govern  themselves,  he 
could  by  no  means  keep  pace  with  the  idea.  He  was 
a  country  gentleman  and  an  Oxford  scholar,  and  like 
all  of  his  class  in  that  day,  an  aristocrat.  He  was, 
however,  a  kindly  man,  with  helpful  instincts.  He 
was  a  capital  story-teller  ;  ^  while  his  refined  habits  and 
accomplishments  must  have  made  him  a  distinguished 
figure  in  those  days  in  any  society  not  blinded  by  preju- 
dice. The  fact  that  he  appreciated  Shakespeare  so 
keenly  that  he  is  said  to  have  learned  him  by  heart, 
indicates  a  literary  taste  quite  unusual  in  that  time. 
He  was  an  excellent  architect.  He  was  an  earnest 
friend  of  Harvard  College,  for  which  he  designed  Har- 
vard Hall,  showing  in  that  and  in  other  constructions 
that  he  was  a  master  and  leader  in  that  colonial  style 
whose  decorous  and  comely  grace  our  modern  architects 
are  pleased  enough  to  catch.  Had  he  been  the  blackest 
of  traitors  and  villains,  he  could  not  have  received  worse 

^  "  The  best  stocked  with  anecdotes  of  any  man  I  ever  knew,  and 
fond  of  communicatmg  them,  which  he  could  do  with  a  good  grace,"  says 
Hutchinson. 


1769]  THE  END   OF  BERNARD.  147 

treatment  than  was  poured  out  after  him,  when  on  the 
last  (lay  of  July  he  sailed  down  the  harbor  in  the 
Ripon,  bound  for  home.  He  was  accused  of  having 
by  his  misrepresentations  brought  the  troops  to  Boston 
and  put  the  Colony  in  danger  of  a  change  of  charter. 
Bollan,  the  son-in-law  of  Shirley,  who  had  in  a  former 
time  done  much  toward  getting  for  the  Province  the 
Louisburg  indemnity,  was  still  on  the  stage,  as  agent 
for  the  Massachusetts  Council ;  for  the  Council  now 
as  well  as  the  House,  it  Avill  be  remembered,  had  its 
Enoflish  aofent.  Throuo-h  him  it  was  that  six  letters  of 
Bernard,  written  to  affect  parliamentary  action  at  the 
end  of  1768,  were  obtained  and  sent  back  to  America. 
They  were  so  important,  it  was  felt,  that  they  were  con- 
sidered on  a  Sunday  by  the  Council,  a  procedure  quite 
extraordinary.  The  letters  made  it  impossible  for  him 
to  live  in  the  country.  Yet  it  was  entirely  proper  for 
the  chief  magistrate  to  give  his  views  as  to  what  needed 
to  be  done ;  and  not  an  idea  was  expressed  as  to  a 
policy  expedient  in  the  circumstances,  different  from 
what  he  had  expressed  in  the  most  open  manner  in  his 
papers  to  the  legislature,  and  in  his  talk  to  those  who 
came  in  contact  with  him  :  there  was,  moreover,  no 
allegation  respecting  the  conduct  of  the  Province  which 
was  not  completely  borne  out  by  facts.  He  thought 
the  provincial  governments  should  be  brought  to  a  uni- 
form type  ;  the  Assemblies  he  would  have  remain  com- 
posed of  popular  representatives,  but  he  thought  the 
Councils  should  consist  of  a  kind  of  life-peers  appointed 
directly  by  the  King.  He  believed  also  that  govern- 
ment officers  should  be  removed  from  dependence  upon 


148  THE   LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1769 

legislative  grants  for  their  salaries.  If  governors, 
judges,  and  civil  officers  generally  depended  thus  upon 
the  people,  how  could  any  unpopular  law  ever  be  en- 
forced ;  and  how  could  any  criminal  who  might  succeed 
in  ing-ratiatinof  himself  with  the  crowd  ever  be  brousfht 
to  justice  ?  Certainly,  for  a  prerogative  man,  these 
views  were  not  unreasonable.  Who  will  say  now  that 
such  direct  dependence  upon  the  popular  breath  is  ex- 
pedient for  governors  and  judges?  Bernard  never 
made  pretense  of  holding  other  views  ;  yet  because  they 
were  advocated  in  these  letters,  which  accompanied  the 
plain  story  of  what  was  said  and  done  every  day  in 
the  Province,  he  was  denounced.  He  no  doubt  felt 
himself  well  compensated  by  the  government  favor  he 
received.  He  was  made  a  baronet ;  though  absent  from 
his  post,  he  remained  titular  Governor,  receiving  half 
the  salary,  an  equitable  arrangement,  since  he  was  ex- 
pected to  contribute  his  time  and  knowledge  to  the 
Provincial  service,  though  at  Westminster  instead  of  in 
Boston.  The  other  half  of  the  salary  was  to  be  paid  to 
Hutchinson,  who  for  two  years  was  destined  to  remain 
Lieutenant-Governor,  before  becoming  Governor  in  full. 
Could  a  son  of  the  Province,  born  of  its  best  stock, 
bred  in  the  midst  of  its  best  influences,  adorned  with 
all  sorts  of  honors  won  by  long-continued  and  success- 
ful public  service  in  places  large  and  small,  —  could 
such  a  man  do  better  with  the  administration  than  the 
man  from  beyond  sea  ? 


CHAPTER   VII. 

HUTCHINSON    AT    THE    FRONT. 

Hutchinson  assumed  his  new  prominence  without 
alacrity,  —  with  reluctance  rather.  On  September  8,  he 
urgently  wishes  that  he  may  be  allowed  to  retain  the 
Chief  Justiceship,  and  not  be  made  Governor.  In  the 
former  place  he  is  sure  he  can  do  more  good,  and  there 
he  would  prefer  to  work,  even  although  the  stipend  is 
small  and  precarious.^  The  administration,  however, 
would  not  have  it  otherwise,  and  he  now  stepped  into 
the  first  place.  He  was  fifty-eight  years  old,  indeed  a 
veteran.  For  ten  years  he  had  been  Representative, 
during  three  years  of  which  period  he  had  been  Speaker 
of  the  House.  From  1749  to  1766,  he  had  been  every 
year  of  the  Council.  Besides  these  legislative  positions, 
in  the  judicial  field  he  had  been  Judge  of  Probate,  of 
the  Common  Pleas,  and  Chief  Justice ;  in  the  executive 
field,  he  had  long  been  Lieutenant-Governor.  Some 
years  before,  upon  becoming  Lieutenant-Governor,  he 
had  resigned  his  Justiceship  of  the  Common  Pleas  in 
favor  of  his  brother  Foster.  He  now  resigned  as 
Judge  of  Probate,  Ave  may  believe  regretfully,  from 
the  followino^  memorandum  :  — 

"  It  gives  me  so  much  pleasure  to  relieve  the  widow 
and  fatherless,  and  direct  them  what  steps  to  take  in 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  374. 


150  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1769 

managing  their  estates,  and  also  in  reconciling  contend- 
ing parties,  that  I  would  rather  resign  my  other  offices, 
and  discharoe  this  alone  without  fee  or  reward."  ^  While 
still  nominally  Chief  Justice,  he  ceased  to  discharge  the 
functions  of  the  office.  The  assertion  of  the  editor  of 
the  "  Diary  "  is  no  doubt  quite  correct,  that  as  Judge 
of  Probate,  Chief  Justice,  and  Lieutenant-Governor 
combined,  he  had  not  received  enough  from  the  united 
stipends  for  the  decent  support  of  his  family. 

Precisely  at  the  moment  when  Hutchinson's  func- 
tions became  thus  simplified  and  exalted,  a  single  figure 
stands  out  over  against  him  in  the  front  of  the  opposi- 
tion with  a  definiteness  which  he  has  not  before  pos- 
sessed, —  Samuel  Adams.  Until  now  James  Otis  has, 
though  with  much  fitfulness,  been  well  forward  in  the 
leadership.  From  the  departure  of  Bernard,  however, 
he  falls  into  the  background,  and  henceforth  needs  to 
be  reckoned  with  only  seldom.  How  disease  was  mak- 
ing inroads  on  his  fine  powers,  we  best  know  from  John 
Adams,  who  on  September  3  writes :  "  Otis  talks  all ; 
he  grows  the  most  talkative  man  alive ;  no  other  gentle- 
man in  company  can  find  a  space  to  put  in  a  word.  .  .  . 
He  grows  narrative  like  an  old  man."  ^  On  September 
5,  while  at  the  British  Coffee  House  in  King  Street,  an 
altercation  having  arisen  in  which  Otis,  thus  infirm,  no 
doubt  bore  himself  offensively,  he  was  badly  beaten  by 
Robinson,  one  of  the  Commissioners  of  Customs,  re- 
ceiving injuries  which  apparently  aggravated  his  in- 
sanity.    From  this  time  on  he  was  to  the  Whig  leaders 

^  Hutchinson's  Diary  and  Letters,  vol.  i ,  p.  120. 
2  John  Adams's  Diary. 


1769]  HUTCHINSON  AT  THE   FRONT.  151 

a  subject  of  great  perplexity.  His  judg-ment  was  quite 
gone ;  he  veered  from  opinion  to  opinion  as  his  moods 
swayed  him  ;  his  talk  and  conduct  were  often  those  of  a 
man  demented ;  yet  his  eloquence  to  some  extent  re- 
mained, and  the  spell  with  which  he  influenced  the 
people  was  long  in  breaking.  "  Otis  is  in  confusion 
yet ;  he  loses  himself ;  he  rambles  and  wanders  like  a 
ship  without  a  helm ;  attempted  to  tell  a  story  which 
took  up  almost  all  the  evening.  ...  In  one  word,  Otis 
will  spoil  the  club.  He  talks  so  much,  and  takes  up  so 
much  of  our  time,  and  fills  it  with  trash,  obsceneness, 
profaneness,  nonsense,  and  distraction,  that  we  have 
none  left  for  rational  amusements  or  inquiries.  ...  I 
fear,  I  tremble,  I  mourn,  for  the  man  and  for  his 
country ;  many  others  mourn  over  him  with  tears  in 
their  eyes."  ^  One  more  extract  may  be  quoted  from 
John  Adams  bearing  upon  Otis,  which  shows,  among 
other  things,  that  others  besides  Hutchinson  Avere  open 
to  the  charge  of  rapacious  of&ce-seeking.  After  detail- 
ing certain  detractions  of  which  he  had  been  the  victim, 
the  diarist  breaks  out  testily :  "  This  is  the  rant  of  Mr. 
Otis  concernins:  me.  .  .  .  But  be  it  known  to  Mr.  Otis 
I  have  been  in  the  public  cause  as  long  as  he,  though  I 
was  never  in  the  General  Court  but  one  year.  I  have 
sacrificed  as  much  to  it  as  he.  I  have  never  got  my 
father  chosen  Speaker  and  Counselor  by  it ;  my  brother- 
in-law  chosen  mto  the  House  and  chosen  Speaker  by  it ; 
nor  a  brother-in-law's  brother-in-law  into  the  House  and 
Council  by  it  ;  nor  did  I  ever  turn  about  in  the  House, 
and  rant  it  on  the  side  of  prerogative  for  a  whole  year, 

^  John  Adams's  Diarj',  Jan.  16,  1770. 


152  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1769 

to  get  a  father  into  a  Probate  office  and  a  first  Justice 
of  a  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  a  brother  into  a 
clerk's  office.  There  is  a  complication  of  malice,  envy, 
and  jealousy  in  this  man,  in  the  present  disordered  state 
of  his  mind,  that  is  quite  shocking."  ^  In  this  incapa- 
city of  Otis,  who  was  at  last  carried,  bound  hand  and 
foot,  to  confinement,  Samuel  Adams  comes  to  the  front 
of  the  opposition,  his  adroitness  being  perhaps  no  more 
conspicuous  anywhere  than  in  the  manner  in  which  he 
humored  and  exploited  the  colleague,  whom,  though 
sick,  the  people  would  not  suffer  to  be  withdrawn. 

Hutchinson  remarks  ^  that  the  position  of  the  chief 
magistrate  in  1769  was  particularly  discouraging.  He 
was  bound  by  his  oath  and  the  nature  of  his  office  to 
submit  to  an  authority  which  the  majority  had  come 
to  reject.  As  soon  as  the  supremacy  of  Parhament 
was  called  in  question,  a  certain  authority  being  still 
conceded  to  it,  but  with  no  criterion  to  set  the  limits, 
the  chief  magistrate's  authority  at  once  became  ener- 
vated. At  first  this  supremacy  seemed  to  be  admitted 
in  everything  except  taxes  ;  but  exception  had  gradually 
extended  from  one  case  to  another  until  all  functions 
had  become  included.  A  profession  of  subordination 
remained,  but  it  was  a  word  without  meaning.  The  chief 
magistrate,  says  Hutchinson,  had  now  no  aid  from  the 
executive  powers  under  him.  Not  only  did  the  Assem- 
bly refuse  to  join  him  in  measures  for  repressing  oppo- 
sition, but  the  Council  had  gradually  been  brought  to 
the  same  sentiments.  Hutchinson  could  not  even  apply 
to   the   troops    for   help.     They  could    not  legally  be 

•  John  Adams's  Diary,  Oct.  27,  1772.  2  ^;.,;^  yoi.  iij.^  p.  256. 


7^' 


176a]  HUTCHINSON  AT  THE  FRONT.  153 

used  except  upon  the  requisition  of  a  civil  magistrate. 
Though  chief  executive,  he  thought  it  beyond  his 
powers  to  make  such  a  requisition,  and  he  could  find 
no  civil  magistrate,  in  the  strong  set  of  the  popular 
current,  who  would  come  to  his  aid. 

The  Townshend  duties  were  to  be  rej)ealed,  except- 
ing upon  the  article  tea.  While  the  law  stood  on  the 
statute-book,  Hutchinson,  though  disapproving,  thought 
it  must  be  executed.  As  the  year  proceeded  the  oppo- 
sition became  constantly  more  bitter,  the  especial  instru- 
ment of  resistance  being  non-importation  agreements, 
which  all  engaged  in  trade  were  now  forced  to  sign. 
Boston,  as  ever,  was  the  principal  seat  of  agitation,  and 
"  merchants'  meetings  "  were  the  means  by  which  the 
popular  party,  convening  with  little  discrimination  the 
orderly  elements  with  the  rough  crowd,  forced  the  agree- 
ments upon  the  reluctant.  October  28,  a  case  of  tar- 
ring and  feathering  occurred  in  the  midst  of  much 
tumult,  the  victim  being  an  informer  against  illicit 
traders  ;  and  at  the  same  time  the  case  of  John  Mein 
came  up,  a  humble  but  most  reputable  sufferer,  upon 
whom  we  can  afford  to  spend  a  few  minutes'  attention. 
Mein,  a  Scotch  printer,  published  the  "  Indejjendent 
Chronicle,"  whose  files,  as  they  are  preserved,  do  great 
credit  to  his  skill  in  his  craft :  it  is  a  handsome  sheet, 
even  judged  by  modern  standards,  but  of  Tory  pro- 
clivities, and  at  this  time  had  contained  some  ridicule 
of  members  of  the  caucus.  Mein  was  also  a  book- 
seller :  his  advertisements  give  in  long  detail  his  impor- 
tations, and  speak  favorably  for  his  intelligence  and 
enterprise.     As  the  founder  of  circulating  libraries  in 


154  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1769 

Boston,  his  name  should  not  be  forgotten/  Mein,  at- 
tacked by  the  mob,  was  goaded  into  firing  a  pistol,  and 
was  forced  to  take  refuge  at  the  main  guard.  In  the 
Hutchinson  papers  is  preserved  the  following  appeal, 
copied  here  from  Mein's  autograph,  written  as  he  lay  in 
durance :  — 

"Hon.  Sir,  —  I  now  write  to  you  as  the  principal 
civil  officer  in  this  province,  to  claim  that  protection  to 
which  every  man  in  my  situation  has  a  legal  right ;  I  w  as 
last  afternoon  in  open  daylight  attacked  by  a  number  of 
persons  in  a  most  vitious  manner,  and  it  was  owing  to 
the  providence  of  Almighty  God  that  I  escaped  wdth  my 
life.  Soon  after  I  acquainted  you  with  my  situation 
and  received  no  assistance ;  and  such  is  the  disposition 
of  my  enemies  in  this  town,  that  unless  I  am  properly 
protected  I  cannot  say  what  w411  be  the  consequence. 
I  have  just  wrote  to  Mr.  Foster  Hutchinson  desiring 
he  would  accompany  a  friend  to  the  house  where  I  now 
am  to  take  some  depositions  against  the  persons  who 
assaulted  me  ;  and  he  refused  to  attend.  I  have  desired 
two  friends  to  sign  this  letter,  that  whatever  may  hap- 
pen the  blame  may  be  fixed  on  the  proper  persons.  I 
am  informed  that  the  very  persons  who  attacked  me, 
and  who  struck  me  without  even  my  returning  it,  only 
presenting  a  pistol  to  keep  them  off,  have  taken  out  a 
warrant  against  me.  I  am  ready  to  surrender  myself, 
provided  I  have  a  proper  force  to  prevent  any  injury  to 
my  person  from  a  licentious  mob,  and  I  make  no  doubt 

1  The  Massachusetts  Gazette,  October  31, 1765,  has  a  quaint  and  curious 
announcement  of  the  establishment  of  Mein's  Library. 


1769]  HUTCHINSON   AT  THE   FRONT.  155 

I  shall  clear  myself  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  impartial 
world.  Also  in  the  conversation  with  your  Honour,  I 
asked  if  on  the  5tli  of  Nov.  being  a  riotous  day  in 
Boston,  you  could  inform  me  of  the  name  of  any  Jus- 
tice of  Peace  that  would  engage  to  be  at  any  particular 
place  if  necessity  required  him  to  be  called ;  to  this 
you  answered  you  did  not  know  any  that  would  refuse 
to  do  his  duty.^  I  then  asked  if  your  Honour  would  be 
in  town  that  night ;  you  said  you  could  not  tell,  and 
told  me,  often,  no  previous  steps  could  be  taken,  and 
advised  me  against  the  memorial  to  you  in  Council. 
The  matter  has  now  arisen  to  such  a  pitch  that  a  proper 
Guard  of  Military  appears  to  me  and  my  friends,  to  be 
necessary,  to  attend  to  and  from  the  Justices. 

John  Mein."  ^ 

Hutchinson  describes  this  as  the  first  mob  since  the 
coming  of  the  troops.  It  was  prepared  for  outrage; 
like  the  mobs  before  and  after,  putting  the  town  in  ter- 
ror ;  but  it  was  not  interfered  with.  Hutchinson  sum- 
moned the  Council  to  him,  who  declared  it  inexpedient 
to  call  out  the  troops.  He  also  convened  the  justices  of 
the  peace,  whom  he  instructed  solemnly  in  their  duties  as 
to  the  preservation  of  order,  but  could  make  no  impres- 
sion, one  declaring  that  a  man  must  be  in  danger  of 
being  torn  in  pieces  "  for  opposing  the  whole  continent 
in  the  only  measure  which  could  save  them  from  ruin." 
In  all  their  disorder  the  people  were  greatly  encour- 
aged from  England,  from  which  quarter  they  had  been 

^  A  little  later  Hutchmson  would  not  have  said  this. 
2  M.  A .  Hist.,  vol.  XXV.,  p.  455. 


156  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

abundantly  taught  by  great  men,  both  in  the  Lords  and 
Commons,  that  there  should  be  no  taxation  without 
representation.  The  body  of  the  people,  it  was  said 
probably  with  truth,  strongly  upheld  the  colonists ;  in 
fact  was  embarked  in  the  same  cause  with  them.  No- 
thing is  plainer  than  that  this  struggle,  becoming  now 
so  acute,  was  not  between  England  and  America,  but 
between  two  parties,  both  of  which  existed  as  well  in 
England  as  in  America.  At  this  time  pamphlets  came 
to  the  American  Whigs  from  their  fellow-fighters  in 
England,  maintaining  what  till  recently  had  been  such 
advanced  doctrine,  that  the  King,  by  his  Governor, 
Council,  and  House,  made  up  the  rightful  legislature  of 
the  Colony,  and  that  Parliament  must  be  excluded. 
Hawley  was  thus  emboldened  to  declare,  "  he  knew  not 
how  Parliament  could  have  acquired  a  right  to  legislate 
over  the  Colonies ;  "  and  Samuel  Adams  said  in  Town- 
meeting  :  "  Independent  we  are,  and  independent  we 
will  be ! "  ^  As  yet  this  was  called  bold  language. 
A  certain  supremacy  in  Parliament  was  still  generally 
admitted,  but  so  attenuated  and  undefined  as  to  be 
scarcely  palpable.  An  indispensable  part  of  a  Govern- 
or's duties  was  to  make  a  report  of  public  matters  to 
the  King's  ministers.  The  simplest  recitals  of  events, 
claims  Hutchinson,  were  pronounced  misrepresentations 
made  with  a  view  to  bringf  on  vindictive  measures. 

With  the  beginning  of  1770,  it  became  plain  that  a 
fierce  explosion  was  not  far  off,  though  the  fire  was  still 
for  a  time  suppressed.  Thomas  and  Elisha,  the  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor's sons,  now  men  grown,  and  starting  in 

1  Hist,  vol.  iii.,  p.  264. 


1770]  HUTCHINSON  AT  THE  FRONT.  157 

their  native  town  as  traders,  suddenly  became  promi- 
nent figures  with  their  father  in  the  anti-popular  party. 
Under  force  the  young  men  had  signed  the  non-imj^or- 
tation  agreements ;  but  resenting  what  they  felt  to  be 
restrictions  quite  uncalled  for  and  unauthorized,  they 
had  caused  a  padlock  placed  upon  the  door  of  their  ware- 
house to  be  broken,  and  in  other  ways  proceeded  too 
spiritedly  against  the  popular  Avill.  The  mob  came  at 
once  to  Hutchinson's  house,  and  its  inmates  must  have 
had  very  vividly  in  mind  what  they  had  gone  through 
five  years  before.  Others  who  had  taken  the  same  stand 
as  Thomas  and  Elisha  were  in  similar  danger.  Hutch- 
inson convened  the  Council,  urging  them  to  join  with 
him  in  requiring  the  justices  to  order  out  the  troops. 
They,  as  before,  declined  acting  though  declaring  their 
disapproval  of  mobs.  He  then  summoned  the  justices 
and  exhorted  them  on  his  own  responsibility  to  discharge 
their  duty.  Their  straightforward  answer  was  "  that 
the  assembhes  might  be  unwarrantable,  but  there 
were  times  when  irregularities  could  not  be  restrained. 
The  people  were  now  much  disturbed  by  danger  to 
their  just  rights  and  hberties.  It  was  therefore  not 
incmnbent  on  them  to  act."  The  assemblies  meantime 
declared  they  unanimously  beheved  that  their  coming 
together  was  lawful,  and  that  they  shoidd  act  conscien- 
tiously. With  February  came  the  first  actual  blood- 
shed in  connection  with  the  tumults,  an  inferior  custom- 
house officer,  whose  windows  were  being  broken  by  the 
mob,  killing  with  a  pistol-shot,  fired  at  random,  a 
German  boy  of  twelve,  who  was  forthwith  buried  with 
immense  demonstration.      Thouo-h  there  is  no  reason 


158  THE   LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

to  think  that  Hutchinson's  nerve  failed  at  all  through 
these  difficult  scenes,  he  was  tortured  by  indecision  as  to 
what  was  the  wise  and  legal  course  for  him  to  pursue. 
And  how  could  it  be  otherwise  ?  Whether  or  not  it  lay 
within  his  power  to  call  out  the  troops  was  something 
he  could  not  decide.  No  civil  magistrate  could  be  found 
to  do  it.  If  it  was  done,  he  must  do  it.  He  afterwards 
regretted  he  did  not  assume  the  responsibility.  He 
yielded  to  advice  to  remain  inactive  "  without  suf- 
ficiently considering  the  consequences,"  and  felt  more 
distress  of  mind  from  this  error  than  when  his  house 
was  destroyed.^  He  was  triumphed  over  and  reproached 
for  the  concession  by  the  men  who  under  color  of  friend- 
ship advised  it.^  But  the  collision  which  he  was  so 
anxious  to  postpone  must  of  necessity  come.  Dalrym- 
ple,  the  Lieutenant-Colonel  in  command,  was  a  prudent 
officer,  and  it  must  be  said  kept  his  men  under  remark- 
able control  in  the  midst  of  the  provocations  that  were 
showered  upon  them.  The  grievance  of  the  people  was 
real ;  their  resistance  manful  and  quite  justified  ;  though 
the  insults  and  assaults  in  which  they  vented  their  discon- 
tent were  coarse  and  terrible.    Nothing  is  better  known 

1  Hist,  vol.  iii.,  p.  266. 

2  When  Hutchiuson  weut  to  England  at  a  later  time,  he  talked  this 
matter  over  with  Wedderburn,  afterward  Lord  Loughborough,  the 
famous  English  lawyer.  Wedderburn  told  him  the  King's  law  servants, 
especially  the  Lord  Chancellor,  thought  the  chief  magistrate  could  call 
on  troops  to  fire  in  a  riot  ;  that  he  himself,  however,  was  in  doubt. 
Hutchinson's  uncertainty  seems  to  have  been  not  without  grounds. 
Diary  and  Letters,  vol.  i.,  p.  183. 

What  care  was  thought  necessary  in  calling  out  the  troops  in  case  of 
riots  appeared  singularly  at  the  time  of  the  Gordon  riots  in  London, 
in  1780.      Lord  Mahon  :  Hist,  of  Eng.,  vol.  vii. 


1770]  HUTCHINSON   AT   THE  FRONT.  159 

among  the  events  of  our  history  than  the  Boston 
Massacre.  Hutchmson  gives  it  with  full  detail  in  the 
History.  Here  is  what  he  wrote  at  the  time  to  Hills- 
boro,  his  heart  palpitating   with  the  agitation   of  the 

moment. 

"  Boston,  March,  1770. 

"  My  Lord,  —  There  has  for  a  long  time  subsisted 
great  animosity  between  the  inhabitants  of  this  town 
and  the  troops.  .  .  .  The  5tli,  in  the  evening  near  ten 
o'clock,  one  of  the  bells  of  the  town  near  where  I  dwell 
was  rung,  and  I  supposed  it  to  be  for  fire,  but  in  a  few 
moments  several  of  the  inhabitants  came  runnino^  into 
my  house  intreating  me  immediately  to  come  out  or  the 
town  would  be  all  in  blood,  the  soldiers  having  killed  a 
great  number  of  the  inhabitants,  and  the  people  in  gen- 
eral being  about  to  arm  themselves.  I  went  out  with- 
out delay  in  order  to  go  to  the  Council  Chamber,  as  the 
people  were  killed  in  King  Street  near  to  it,  but  was 
soon  surrounded  by  a  great  body  of  men,  many  of  them 
armed  with  clubs,  some  with  cutlasses,  and  all  calling 
for  their  firearms.  I  discovered  myself  to  them  and 
endeavored  to  prevail  on  them  to  hear  me,  but  was 
soon  obliged  for  my  own  safety  to  go  into  a  house  and 
by  a  private-way  into  King  Street,  the  people  having 
returned  there  expecting  me.  After  assuring  them  that 
a  due  inquiry  should  be  made  and  justice  done  as  far  as 
it  was  in  my  power,  and  prevailing  with  the  command- 
ing officers  of  the  troops  in  the  street  to  retire  witli 
them  to  their  barracks,  the  people  dispersed.  Ex- 
presses had  gone  out  to  the  neighboring  towns,  and  the 
inhabitants  were  called  out  of  their  beds,  many  of  whom 


160  THE  LIFE   OF   THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

armed  themselves,  but  were  stopped  from  coming  into 
town  by  advice  that  there  was  no  further  danger  that 
night.  A  barrel  of  tar  which  was  carrying  to  the 
Beacon  to  set  on  fire  was  also  sent  back.  Upon  exami- 
nation before  two  Justices  of  the  Peace,  Capt.  Preston 
of  the  29th,  who  had  the  command  of  the  Guard,  was 
committed  to  prison  for  being  charged  with  ordering 
the  troops  to  fire,  and  seven  or  eight  jJrivates  charged 
with  firing.  Four  persons  were  killed,  two  more  are 
said  to  be  mortally  wounded,  divers  others  wounded, 
but  not  in  such  danger.  Among  them  is  a  gentleman 
of  the  town,  who,  standing  at  his  door,  was  shot  in  the 
arm  and  the  bones  sjilintered.  How  far  the  affronts 
and  abuses  offered  by  the  inhabitants  may  avail  to 
excuse  this  action  is  uncertain,  but  it  is  certain  that 
nothing  more  unfortunate  could  have  happened,  for  a 
very  great  jDart  of  the  peojDle  were  in  a  perfect  frenzy 
by  means  of  it. 

"I  summoned  all  the  members  of  the  Council  who 
were  near  enough  to  meet  the  next  morning.  When 
I  came  to  them  I  found  the  selectmen  of  the  town 
and  a  great  part  of  the  Justices  of  the  county  waiting 
for  me  at  the  Council  Chamber,  to  represent  to  me 
their  opinion  of  the  absolute  necessity  of  the  troops 
being  at  a  distance  that  there  may  be  no  intercourse 
between  the  inhabitants,  to  prevent  a  further  effusion 
of  blood.  The  selectmen  acquainted  me  they  had  been 
applied  to,  to  call  a  town-meeting,  and  that  the  inhab- 
itants would  be  under  no  restraint  whilst  the  troops 
were  in  the  town.  I  let  them  know  that  I  had  no 
power  to   remove   the  troops.     I  then   sent  to   desire 


1770]  HUTCHINSON   AT  THE   FRONT.  161 

Col.  Dalrymple  and  Col.  Carr  to  be  present  in  Council. 
Soon  after  a  message  came  by  a  large  committee  from 
the  town  to  me  being  in  Council.  I  told  the  Council  also 
that  the  removal  of  the  troops  was  not  with  me,  and  I 
desired  them  to  consider  what  answer  I  could  give  to  this 
application  of  the  town  whilst  Col.  Dalrymple,  who  had 
the  command,  was  present.  The  principal  quarrels  had 
been  with  the  29tli  Regiment,  and  upon  hearing  from 
the  Council  what  they  had  to  urge.  Col.  Dalrymple  let  me 
know  that  he  was  willing  the  29th  should  go  into  the 
barracks  at  the  Castle,  and  engaged  that  the  14th  should 
be  so  disposed  in  Boston  as  to  prevent  occasions  of  dis- 
pute between  the  inhabitants  and  the  regiment.  I  there- 
upon signified  to  the  Committee  of  the  town  what  Col. 
Dalrymple  had  agreed  to,  repeating  to  them  also  what 
I  said  to  the  selectmen,  that  the  ordering  of  the  troops 
did  not  lie  with  me.  Upon  report  made  to  the  town, 
they,  by  a  general  vote,  declared  that  they  could  not  be 
satisfied  unless  both  regiments  were  at  the  Castle. 

"  I  met  the  Council  again  in  the  afternoon,  when 
the  commanding  officers  of  both  regiments,  and  also 
Capt.  Caldwell,  of  his  Majesty's  Ship  Rose,  were  present. 
I  would  have  desired  some  other  Crown  officers  to  have 
been  there,  but  I  knew  the  Council  would  not  consent 
to  it.  The  town  soon  sent  a  second  committee  to  me, 
and  with  their  vote,  which  I  required  the  Council  to 
give  me  their  advice  upon.  They  advised  me  to  desire 
Col.  Dalrymple  to  remove  the  14tli  regiment  also  to 
the  barracks  at  the  Castle,  and  with  one  voice  most 
earnestly  urged  it  upon  me."  ^ 

^  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  462. 


162  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

Samuel  Adams's  famous  "  Both  regiments  or  none ! " 
carried  tlie  day.  In  almost  the  only  exultant  passage 
of  his  writings,  he  described  afterwards  how  before 
him  Hutchinson's  eye  quailed  and  his  knees  trembled. 
It  w^as  not,  however,  through  cowardice.  The  embar- 
rassments of  the  situation  for  the  chief  magistrate  were 
really  appalling.  Respectable  men  at  that  time  and  at 
other  times  disavowed  the  outrages  ;  Lord  Mahon's  re- 
mark cannot,  however,  be  regarded  as  hitting  wide  of 
the  facts  :  ^'  No  doubt  in  a  large  majority  of  cases  these 
disavowals  were  perfectly  well-founded  :  still,  however, 
the  suspicion  remains  that  the  rabble  on  these  occasions 
was  set  in  movement  and  directed  by  some  persons  of 
hio'her  rank  and  laroj'er  views  of  mischief  than  them- 
selves."  ^  None  of  the  mobs,  of  that  time  of  mobs,  was 
more  brutal  and  truculent  than  that  which  provoked 
the  firing  of  the  little  group  of  baited  men,  standing 
their  ground  with  steady  discipHne,  among  the  clubs 
and  missiles  resorted  to  now  to  enforce  the  usual  foul 
and  blasphemous  abuse.  Hutchinson  fulfilled  at  this 
time  with  complete  adequacy  the  functions  of  chief 
magistrate.  He  Avas  at  once,  in  the  street,  in  imminent 
danger  of  having  his  brains  dashed  out,^  expostulating, 
entreatinof  that  order  mio-ht  be  observed.  It  was  a  fine 
exhibition  of  power  and  courage,  that,  standing  in  the 

^  Hist,  of  England,  vol.  v.,  p.  2G5. 

2  "  Witness  at  trial  of  soldiers  said  :  '  He  stood  close  behind  me,  .  .  . 
and  that  one  of  the  mob  lifted  up  a  large  club  over  my  head,  and  was 
going  to  strike,  but  that  he  seized  him  by  the  arm  and  prevented  it.'  I 
remember  some  people  hurried  me  into  the  Town-House  and  told  me  I 
was  not  safe  there  [in  the  streets],  but  I  did  not  then  know  the  occasion 
of  it."     Letter,  May  22,  1770,  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  491. 


1770]  HUTCHINSON  AT  THE   FRONT.  163 

east  balcony  of  the  State  House,  with  the  snow  red- 
dened beneath  by  the  blood  o£  the  massacred,  with  the 
regiments  kneeling-  in  rank  ready  for  street  firing,  and 
several  thousands  of  enraged  men  on  the  other  side  on 
the  point  of  rushing  into  fight,  he  was  able  to  hold 
both  parties  in  check.  His  prompt  arrest  of  Preston 
and  the  squad  which  had  done  the  killing  was  his  full 
duty ;  and  it  is  to  the  credit  of  the  troops  that  the 
officer  and  his  men,  in  the  midst  of  the  exasperation, 
gave  themselves  quietly  into  the  hands  of  the  law. 

In  the  famous  scenes  which  followed,  the  next  day, 
—  the  pressure  of  the  town  for  the  removal  of  the 
troops,  brought  to  bear  with  such  consummate  force 
and  address  by  Samuel  Adams,  the  resolute,  manful, 
self-assertion  of  the  matchless  Town- Meeting-  leader  is 
admirable  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  neither  the  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor nor  the  troops,  if  their  position  is  rightly 
estimated,  were  wanting  in  good  conduct.  Two  weak 
regiments,  together  amounting  to  not  more  than  six  hun- 
dred effective  men,  isolated  in  a  populous  Province 
which  hated  them,  were  in  great  peril  of  life.  It  does 
not  appear  that  they  showed  the  white  feather  at  all, 
but  rather  that  they  wished  to  be  law-abiding.  Hutch- 
inson refused  to  order  the  removal  of  the  troops  at  the 
demand  of  the  town,  on  the  ground  that  it  transcended 
his  powers  to  do  so,  —  a  position  quite  correct.  The 
troops  had  come  not  through  him,  but  through  the 
ministry ;  and  his  assertion  that  Gage  alone,  the  com- 
mander at  New  York,  could  order  them  here  or  there, 
was  true.  The  position  of  Dalrymple  was  trying  in 
the  extreme ;  but  if  scanned  closely  it  will  appear  that 


164  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

he  was  solicitous  to  be  prudent  aud  forbearing,  rather 
than  that  he  wanted  courage.  Sir  Samuel  Hood,  after- 
wards one  of  the  best  naval  captains  of  the  great  period 
of  Rodney  and  Nelson,  at  this  time  commander  on  the 
Boston  station,  testifies  in  strong  terms  to  Dalrymple's 
excellence  as  an  officer.^  Although  from  that  day  to 
this  it  has  been  held  that  the  British  uniform  was 
driven  with  ignominy  out  of  the  streets  of  Boston,  the 
"  Sam.  Adams  Regiments "  deserve  no  discredit  for 
their  conduct.  Dalrymple  was  not  censured  by  his 
superiors  at  the  time,  though  the  popular  outcry,  on 
the  one  hand  exultant,  on  the  other  full  of  mortifica- 
tion, was  very  loud.  As  to  the  troops,  probably  few 
organizations  of  the  British  army  have  a  record  more 
honorable.  The  14th  was  with  William  III.  in  Flan- 
ders; it  formed,  too,  one  of  the  squares  at  Waterloo, 
breastinof  for  hours  the  charges  of  the  French  cuiras- 
siers  until  it  had  nearly  melted  away.  The  29th  was 
with  Marlboro  at  Ramillies  ;  with  Wellington  in  the 
Peninsula  it  bore  a  heavy  part,  as  may  be  read  in 
Napier,  in  wresting  Spain  from  the  grasp  of  Napoleon. 
A  mistaken  policy  had  put  the  regiments  into  a  position 
where  they  deserved  pity  ;  to  fight  it  out  with  the  mob 
would  no  doubt  have  been  far  easier  and  pleasanter 
than  to  yield.  For  brave  soldiers,  to  forbear  is  harder 
than  to  charge  ;  and  one  may  be  sure  that,  in  the  long 
history  of  those  regiments,  few  experiences  more  trying 
came  to  pass  than  those  of  the  Boston  streets. 

Again,  the  town  of   Boston  was  quite  right  in  its 
contention.     The  basal  principles  of  Anglo-Saxon  free- 

1  Frothingham's  Warren,  p.  116. 


1770]  HUTCHINSON  AT  THE   FRONT.  165 

dom  were  being'  violated  by  the  people  in  power ;  the 
stubborn  resistance  of  the  town,  however  unlovely  and 
coarse  its  incidents  may  have  been,  was  thoroughly  right 
and  manly,  and  o£  incalculable  advantage  to  all  future 
generations  of  English-speaking  men.  Very  fine,  too, 
was  the  determination  of  the  town  soon  afterward, 
that  Preston  and  his  men  should  have  a  fair  trial ;  and 
the  standing  forth  in  then-  defense  of  the  two  conspicu- 
ous patriots,  John  Adams  and  Josiah  Quincy,  who 
left  no  stone  unturned  to  secure  full  justice  for  their 
clients.  Instead  of  a  bloody  battle,  there  was  sub- 
stituted a  well-ordered  civil  process,  due  delay  being 
observed  that  the  passions  of  both  sides  might  subside, 
and  the  e\ddence,  pro  and  con,  be  calmly  weighed.  A 
mild  and  thoroughly  just  verdict  was  the  outcome,  to 
which  all  submitted. 

Men  they  were,  all  of  the  same  stock,  for  the  time 
being  fallen  into  antagonism.  All  saw  but  a  little 
way,  —  had  but  a  feeble  comprehension  of  how  the 
trouble  had  come  to  pass,  and  no  foreknowledge  of 
the  momentous  sequel  that  lay  before.  All,  however, 
bore  themselves  like  good  Anglo-Saxon  men,  showing 
strongly  the  quality  which  has  made  the  race  a  mighty 
one. 

Hutchinson  so  far  in  his  life  had  had  nothing  so  try- 
ing to  meet  as  the  circumstances  which  had  prevailed 
in  Massachusetts  from  the  departure  of  Bernard  at 
the  end  of  July  to  the  Boston  Massacre  at  the  begin- 
ning of  March.  Naturally,  we  shall  find  in  his  letters 
a  more  unreserved  expression  of  his  mind  than  in  his 
formal  History.      To  Lord  Hillsboro   he  was  in   duty 


166  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

bound  to  make  reports  of  news  and  suggestions  as  to 
remedies  for  the  trouble.  To  Bernard,  an  old  friend, 
who  still  nominally  was  his  superior,  he  would,  of 
course,  write,  and  more  unreservedly  than  in  his  official 
notes  to  the  Secretary  for  the  Colonies.  To  Richard 
Jackson,  also,  he  unbosomed  himself  quite  fully,  as  to 
a  man  he  cordially  liked.  To  Bernard  he  says,  October 
4,  1769,  ^'  I  must  entreat  you  not  to  suffer  the  contents 
of  my  letters  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  any  New 
England  man,  for  everything  they  hear  to  have  been 
Avrote  from  hence  comes  back  in  their  letters,"  —  a  rea- 
sonable caution  enough,  and  one  which  he  often  here- 
after expresses,  in  view  of  the  case  of  Bernard's  letters, 
such  use  of  which  had  been  made  to  thrust  the  Gov- 
ernor into  disfavor.  From  Hutchinson's  point  of  view 
the  "  merchants'  meetings,"  urging  the  rigorous  non- 
importation schemes  by  way  of  resistance  to  the  Town- 
shend  Tax  Act,  were  distinctly  seditious.  These,  there- 
fore, are  consistent  expressions  to  Jackson,  October  4 :  ^ 
"I  wish  I  could  write  you  agreeable  news  of  the  tem- 
per of  the  people  here.  The  confederacy  of  the  mer- 
chants is  certainly  a  very  high  offense,  and  the  Sons  of 
Liberty  are  the  greatest  tyrants  which  were  ever  known, 
for  they  will  suffer  no  man  to  use  his  property  but  just 
in  such  a  way  as  they  approve  of,  and  I  can  find  no 
one  to  join  with  me  in  an  attempt  to  discourage  them. 
.  .  .  People  in  general  here  suppose  that  they  have  a 
strong  party  in  England  which  think  all  that  has  been 
done  here  is  constitutional,  and  an  expedient  measure 
to  bring-  Parliament  to  reason." "     "  A  thousand  acts  of 

1  M.  A.  Hist,  vol.  xsvi.,  p.  383.  ^  j^j  ^.  jjisf^^  yoi.  xxvi.,  p.  385. 


1770]  HUTCHINSON   AT  THE   FRONT.  167 

Parliament  will  never  have  the  least  force,  if  comhi- 
nations  to  prevent  the  operation  of  them  and  to  sacri- 
fice all  who  will  conform  to  them  are  tolerated,  or  if 
towns  are  allowed  to  meet  and  vote  that  measures  for 
defeating  such  acts  are  legal.  A  vigorous  spirit  in  Par- 
liament will  yet  set  us  right.  Without,  the  government 
of  this  Province  will  be  split  into  innumerable  divisions, 
every  town,  every  parish,  and  every  particular  club  or 
connexion  will  meet  and  vote,  and  carry  their  votes  into 
execution  just  as  they  please.  ...  As  to  the  non-im- 
portation agreement,  if  Parliament  pass  it  over,  I  shall 
have  nothing  left  but  to  sit  down  and  pray  silently. 
Lord,  open  the  eyes  of  these  men  that  they  may  see."  ^ 

The  clearest  expression  of  his  displeasure  with  the 
Town-Meeting,  and  how  he  would  have  it  restrained,  I 
find  in  the  following  :  "  The  powers  given  to  towns 
were  never  intended  by  law  to  extend  farther  than  for 
the  management  of  the  immediate  concerns  of  each 
town,  such  as  choosing  their  officers,  raising  money  for 
their  necessary  charges  and  the  like,  and  if  the  law  had 
its  course,  I  think  every  meeting  for  any  other  purpose 
would  be  an  unlawful  assembly,  and  it  would  be  an 
aggravation  of  the  offense  that  law  is  made  a  pretense 
for  it.  These  meetino-s  introduced  the  mob  meetino-s 
to  support  the  non-importation  scheme  which  have  weak- 
ened govt,  beyond  every  thing  else,  having  convinced 
the  people  that  whenever  they  thought  fit  to  assemble 
there  is  no  interior  power  to  disperse  them  or  to  punish 
them  for  anything  they  do  when  assembled.  There  is 
at  present  no  chance  for  suppressing  such  illegal  meet- 

'  Letter  to  Bernard,  October  G,  17G9. 


168  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

ings  by  any  power  within  the  province.  My  hopes  have 
been  from  an  Act  of  Parliament  subjecting  all  persons 
concerned  in  any  such  confederacies  to  incapacities  for 
civil  privileges  and  such  penalties  of  the  statute  of 
Praemunire  as  may  be  judged  proper."  ^ 

"  January  9.  There  has  prevailed  in  all  the  Colonies 
an  opinion  that  by  a  resolute  oj)position  we  should 
bring  Parliament  to  submit.  We  have  some  mad,  des- 
perate people  amongst  us  who  would  be  for  resisting  to 
the  last  drop  of  blood  rather  than  we  should  submit 
ourselves ;  but  I  flatter  myself  this  is  the  sense  of  but  a 
very  few  ;  and  the  best,  when  they  see  Parliament  de- 
termined to  maintain  at  all  costs  its  authority  over  the 
Colonies  will  think  it  madness  to  resist ;  and  when  they 
find  this  authority  exercised  with  the  utmost  tenderness, 
and  feel  the  revival  of  internal  government  and  good 
order,  they  will  cheerfully  submit."  ^  In  the  foregoing 
passage  we  have  again  the  doctrine  from  which  Hutch- 
inson never  departs.  The  Colonies  must  acknowledge 
a  supreme  authority  in  Parliament  in  all  imperial  ques- 
tions ;  that  once  admitted,  the  ruling  hand  must  wear 
the  glove  of  velvet,  the  power  obtruded  only  in  the 
rarest  instances.  So  he  wrote  in  the  hope  that  it  would 
be  heeded  in  England. 

In  1754,  at  Albany,  Hutchinson  had  been  not  at  all 
unfavorable  to  Franklin's  scheme  for  a  Colonial  union. 
Such  a  thing  still  might  be  an  advantage.  "  One  of 
the  Council  of  New  York  writes  by  the  last  post  that 
nothing  can  restore  America  but  a  Lord  Lieutenant  and 

1  To  Hillsboro,  October  9,  1770,  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxv.,  p.  443. 
^  M.A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  430. 


1770]  HUTCHINSON  AT  THE   FRONT.  169 

an  American  Parliament,  and  however  jealous  they  may 
be  of  it  in  England,  yet  they  will  find  the  spirit  of 
democracy  so  persevering  that  they  will  be  obliged  at 
last  to  come  into  it."  Hutchinson  thinks  one  2["overn- 
ment  of  this  kind  quite  impracticable :  there  must  be 
three,  the  Colonies  occupying  a  territory  1500  miles  in 
extent.  1,  Nova  Scotia  and  New  England.  2d,  New 
York  and  Virginia.  3rd,  the  Southern  Colonies. 
With  such  a  division  he  thinks  a  scheme  for  broader 
unions  feasible,  —  possibly  desirable.  "  February  18.  In 
settling  the  several  parts  of  the  plan  occasion  may  be 
taken  to  reform  the  constitution  of  the  several  o-overn- 
ments  of  which  the  general  governments  shall  consist, 
and  to  ascertain  the  general  authority  of  Parhament 
over  the  whole.  There  is  one  visible  advantage  from 
such  a  plan.  If  the  general  government  shall  be 
persons  of  rank  and  of  the  nobihty  who  have  the  best 
talents  for  government,  and  they  continue  only  two  or 
at  most  three  years,  by  their  knowledge  after  their 
return  of  the  state  of  America  Parliament  would  be 
better  able  to  make  such  provision  from  time  to  tune 
as  shall  be  necessary.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  certainly 
best  to  make  some  stir.  To  be  still  only  gives  time  for 
the  principles  of  independence  to  spread  and  to  be  con- 
fomed.  Every  year  they  gain  strength,  and  in  a  short 
time  will  be  universally  avowed.  What  a  noise  it  made 
when  Hawley  said  in  the  House  that  he  doubted  the 
authority  of  Parliament  to  legislate  for  America !  But 
now  we  see  every  newspaper  asserting  we  are  not  sub- 
ject to  acts  of  Parliament  farther  than  we  consent  to 
receive  them.     Nay,  I  am  frequently  told  in   Council 


170  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSOX.  [1770 

that  unconstitutional  acts  are  not  obligations."^  "  Er- 
vino-   said  to   me   in    Council    that  it   would    be  time 

o 

enough  for  them  to  advise  against  such  meetings  when 
they  had  intelligence  that  the  Supporters  of  the  Bill 
of  Rights  were  suppressed  in  England."  ^ 

Turning"  from  these  hio-h  and  serious  matters,  it  will 
be  a  relief  to  take  a  look  at  the  chief  magistrate  in  quite 
a  different  phase.  Here  is  his  order  for  clothes,  sent  to 
London  after  his  elevation.  We  may  suppose  them  to 
have  arrived  by  the  time  of  the  Massacre,  and  can  nar- 
rowly know  how  the  handsome  man  of  fifty-nine  must 
have  looked  as  he  schemed  and  argued  against  his  con- 
tumacious people.  "  October  5,  1769.  To  Mr.  Peter 
Leitch  :  I  desire  to  have  you  send  me  a  blue  cloth  waist- 
coat trimmed  with  the  same  color,  lined,  the  skirts  and 
facings,  with  efiigeen,  and  the  body  linnen  to  match  the 
last  blue  cloath  I  had  from  you :  —  two  under  waist- 
coats or  camisols  of  warm  swansdown,  without  sleeves, 
faced  with  some  cheap  silk  or  shagg.  A  suit  of  cloaths 
full-trimmed,  the  cloath  something  like  the  enclosed, 
only  more  of  a  gray  mixture,  gold  button  and  hole,  but 
little  wadding^  lined  with  effisfeen.  I  like  a  wrouoht,  or 
flowered,  or  embroidered  hole,  something  though  not 
exactly  like  the  hole  upon  the  cloaths  of  which  the  pat- 
tern is  enclosed  ;  or  if  frogs  are  worn,  I  think  they  look 
well  on  the  coat ;  but  if  it  be  quite  irregular,  I  would 
have  neither  one  nor  the  other,  but  such  a  hole  and  but- 
ton as  are  worn.  I  know  a  laced  coat  is  more  the  mode, 
but  this  is  too  gay  for  me.  A  pair  of  worsted  breeches 
to  match  the  color,  and  a  pair  of  black  velvet  breeches, 

1  February  18,  1770.  ^  3/,  ^_  m^i^^  ^,^\^  ^xvi.,  p.  413. 


1770]  HUTCHINSON  AT   THE   FRONT.  171 

the  breeches  with  leather  linings.  Let  them  come  by 
the  first  ship.  P.  S.  If  there  be  no  opportunity  before 
February,  omit  the  camisols,  and  send  a  green  waistcoat, 
the  forebodies  a  strong  corded  silk,  —  not  the  qot  du 
sole,  but  looks  something  hke  it,  —  the  sleeves  and 
bodies  sagathee  or  other  thin  stuff,  body  lined  with 
linen,  skirts  silk.  My  last  cloaths  were  rather  small  in 
the  arm-holes,  but  the  alterations  must  be  very  little, 
next  to  nothing."  ^  The  Lieutenant-Governor  grows  a 
Httle  stout  with  years,  but  holds  his  shape  well. 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  386. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

ACCESSION    TO    THE    GOVERNORSHIP. 

"  May  18th.  Hitherto  we  have  gone  no  farther  than 
to  disown  the  authority  of  Parhament ;  but  now  even 
the  King  is  allowed  Httle  or  no  share  in  the  government 
except  the  appointing  of  a  Governor,  who  is  not  to  be 
directed  by  his  Majesty,  nor  subject  to  his  instructions. 
This  publication  is  not  indeed  the  act  of  the  Province, 
but  it  is  the  act  of  a  town  whose  influence  extends  to 
every  other  town  in  the  Province."  ^ 

These  words  to  HiUsboro  wifl  serve  to  introduce  the 
controversy  with  the  legislature  which  had  succeeded 
to  the  earlier  disagreements,  and  which  was  destined  to 
be  long  and  important,  —  as  to  how  far  the  chief  magis- 
trate could  be  bound  by  royal  instructions. 

As  yet,  since  the  departure  of  Bernard,  there  had 
been  no  session  of  the  General  Court.  In  March,  one 
took  place,  which  at  the  very  beginning  was  signalized 
by  a  new  dispute  between  the  Lieutenant-Governor 
and  the  legislature.  Says  Hutchinson  :  "  The  As- 
sembly was  prorogued  to  meet  at  Boston  the  14th  of 
March,  1770,  but  before  that  time  arrived  there  came 
a  further  signification  of  the  King's  pleasure  that  it 
should  be  held  in  Cambridge,  unless  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor  had  more  weighty  reasons  for  holding  it  at 

^  To  HiUsboro,  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  485. 


1770]  ACCESSION  TO   THE  GOVERNORSHIP.  173 

Boston  than  those  which  were  mentioned  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  State  against  it.  He  was  not  able  to  offer  such 
reasons  as  he  had  any  ground  to  suppose  would  justify 
him  with  the  King,  and  therefore  he  considered  the 
instructions  tantamount  to  a  peremptory  order."  ^ 

On  the  15tli  of  March,  therefore,  the  legislature  met 
in  the  "  Philosophy  Room,"  in  Harvard  College,  in 
Cambridge.  After  the  customary  o^iening  speech  of 
the  chief  magistrate,  the  following  remonstrance  was 
at  once  presented  against  the  removal  of  the  legislature 
from  Boston,  the  Council  joining  with  the  House  :  "  By 
an  act  passed  in  the  tenth  year  of  his  late  Majesty,  King 
William,  of  glorious  memory,  wliicli  received  his  royal 
approbation,  and  is  now  in  force,  the  form  of  a  writ  for 
calHng  the  General  Assembly  is  established  ;  wherein  it 
is  ordered  that  the  General  Assembly  be  convened, 
held,  and  kept  in  the  Town  House  in  Boston.  Hence 
it  appears  that  the  Town  House  in  Boston  is  by  law 
established  as  the  only  place  for  holding  the  Assembly ; 
and  we  take  the  liberty  to  express  our  sentiments  that 
no  instruction  ought  to  be  deemed  of  sufficient  force  to 
invalidate  the  law.  With  regard  to  the  instruction, 
which  seems  to  lie  with  so  much  weight  on  your 
Honor's  mind,  we  would  observe  that  when  a  bill  was 
brought  into  the  British  Parliament  to  give  the  royal 
instructions  in  the  Colonies  the  force  of  laws,  the  Com- 
mons then  asserted  the  rights  of  the  peoj)le,  and  re- 
jected it  with  disdain." " 

^  Hist.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  280.     See,  also,  letter  to  Daniel  Leonard,  Sept.  2, 
1775,  Diary  and  Letters,  vol.  i.,  p.  526. 
2  Bradford  :  State  Papers,  p.  200. 


174  THE   LIFE   OF   THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

To  this  Hutchinson  saw  fit  to  reply  "  that  with  as 
much  reason  they  might  except  to  the  authority  of  the 
King  to  give  instructions  in  many,  if  not  all,  other 
cases,  as  in  the  removal  of  the  Assembly.  The  Crown, 
neither  by  charter,  nor  in  any  other  way,  had  ever 
divested  itself  of  its  authority  to  instruct  its  Gov- 
ernor." ^  That  the  King,  by  his  prerogative,  could  in- 
terfere to  remove  the  legislature  from  the  "  Town 
House  in  Boston,"  did  not  in  his  mind  admit  of  a 
doubt,  and  therefore  he  disregarded  the  remonstrance. 

During  this  session  of  the  legislature  Samuel  Adams 
wrote  most  of  the  state  papers,  and  was  the  working 
member  of  the  important  committees.  Hawley  stood 
at  his  right  hand,  exercising  an  influence  over  the 
country  members  (who  were  not  always  without  jeal- 
ousy of  the  "  Boston  seat")  even  greater  than  that  of 
Adams,  though  he  was  less  constantly  active.  In  the 
Council,  James  Bowdoin  occupied  a  position  correspond- 
ino"  to  that  of  Adams  in  the  House.  Hutchinson  de- 
clares  that  the  legislature,  much  more  the  people  at 
large,  ought  not  to  be  judged  from  the  votes  and  mes- 
sages. "  They  were  the  compositions  of  a  very  few 
probably  most  of  them  of  one  person  in  each  house 
He  thought  he  could  manage  the  legislature  and  the 
Province  but  for  the  one  town  and  its  representatives. 
"  All  the  House  can  do  will  be  a  perfect  trifle  compared 
with  the  trouble  the  town  of  Boston  gives  me.  If  the 
town  could  be  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  Province ! 
Somethino-  must  be  done  to  humble  the  leaders  of  the 
town.     The  body  of  the   people  are  all  of  one  mind, 

1  HisU  vol.  iii.,  p.  304.  ^  Hist,  vol.  iii.,  p.  30G. 


"  2 


1770]  ACCESSION  TO  THE  GOVERXORSIIIP.  175 

and  there  is  no  stemming  the  torrent.  It  is  the  com- 
mon lang'uag'e  of  Adams  and  the  rest  that  they  are  not 
to  be  intimidated  by  acts  of  ParUament,  for  they  will 
not  be  executed  here."  ^ 

The  House  took  pains,  while  proceeding  to  business, 
to  make  it  clear  that  they  did  not  renounce  their  claim 
to  a  leg'al  right  to  sit  in  the  town-house  in  Boston  ;  and 
after  a  session  of  a  few  weeks  were  dissolved,  near  the 
end  of  April.  When  the  elections  for  the  new  Assem- 
bly took  place,  as  usual  at  the  beginning  of  May,  the 
popular  leaders  were  enthusiastically  sustained,  Samuel 
Adams  receiving  all  but  three  out  of  five  hundred  and 
thirteen  votes  cast  in  Town-Meeting,  and  John  Hancock 
all  but  two.  Otis  was  replaced  by  James  Bowdoin  ; 
and  since  he  went  at  once  into  the  Council,  John 
Adams  was  chosen  in  his  stead,  appearing  now  in  the 
legislature  for  the  first  time,  and  assuming  at  once  a 
position  of  importance.  On  the  15th  of  May  instruc- 
tions of  unusual  eloquence  were  addressed  to  the  new 
representatives,  prepared  by  the  young  Josiah  Quincy. 
In  more  distinct  terms  than  ever  before  revolt  w^as 
anticipated.  Resistance  was  recommended  even  to  the 
uttermost ;  the  deputies  were  urged  to  use  means  to 
rouse  a  military  spirit  in  the  people,  to  cultivate  union 
with  the  other  Colonies,  and  hints  were  dropped  about 
"  dogs  of  war,  let  loose  and  hot  for  blood,  rushing  on 
to  waste  and  havoc." 

Hancock,  who,  through  his  wealth  and  popular  gifts, 
was  a  most  important  man,  required  to   be  managed 

^  Letter  of  March,  1770,  cited  in  Wells  :  Life  of  Samuel  Adams,  vol.  i., 
p.  335. 


176  THE   LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

with  almost  as  much  care  and  tact  as  the  crazy  Otis. 
His  sensitiveness  was  easily  touched,  and  a  little  wise 
manipulation  from  the  "  Master  of  the  Puppets,"  Sam- 
uel Adams,  was  often  required  to  keep  him  well  at  work 
in  the  company  of  the  Whigs.  Generally,  throughout 
the  lives  of  the  two  men,  Hancock's  admiration  and 
friendship  for  Samuel  Adams  were  sincere  and  hearty, 
broken,  however,  by  intervals  of  estrangement,  which, 
later  on,  were  sometimes  long  continued. 

During  the  session,  which  began  at  the  end  of  May, 
Gushing  as  usual  being  Speaker  and  Samuel  Adams, 
clerk,  the  controversy  with  the  Lieutenant-Governor 
proceeded,  as  to  the  confining  of  the  General  Court 
to  Cambridoe.  Efforts  were  also  made  to  obtain  the 
accounts  transmitted  to  England  by  the  royal  officials 
of  the  conduct  of  Boston  at  the  time  of  the  Massacre,  — 
accounts  upon  which  the  action  of  the  government 
would  be  based,  and  yet  which  were  carefully  wdthheld 
from  the  Colonists,  so  that  it  should  be  out  of  their 
power,  the  Whigs  declared,  to  answer  misrepresen- 
tations. In  the  correspondence,  the  pen  of  Samuel 
Adams  was  as  usual  employed.  Hutchinson,  dissatis- 
fied, prorogued  them  in  June,  to  meet  again  in  July,  at 
which  time  Samuel  Adams  for  the  House  replied  to  the 
address  of  Hutchinson  in  terms  which  indicate  how 
rapidly  the  growth  of  indignant  and  independent  feel- 
ing had  proceeded :  — 

"  After  the  most  attentive  and  rej)eated  examination 
of  your  speech,  we  find  nothing  to  induce  us  to  alter 
our  opinion  and  very  little  that  is  new  and  material  in 
the  controversy.   .  .  . 


1770]  ACCESSION  TO   THE  GOVERNORSHIP.  177 

"  You  are  pleased  to  say,  *  you  meet  us  at  Cambridge, 
because  you  have  no  reason  to  think  there  has  been 
any  alterations  in  his  Majesty's  pleasure,  which  you 
doubt  not  was  determined  by  wise  motives,  and  with 
a  gracious  purpose  to  promote  the  good  of  the  Prov- 
ince.' .   .  . 

"  This  House  have  great  reason  to  doubt  whether  it 
is,  or  ever  was,  his  Majesty's  pleasure  that  your  Honor 
should  meet  the  Assembly  at  Cambridge,  or  that  he  has 
ever  taken  the  matter  under  his  royal  consideration  ; 
because  the  common  and  the  best  evidence  in  such 
cases  is  not  communicated  to  us. 

"  It  is  needless  for  us  to  add  anything  to  what  has 
been  heretofore  said  upon  the  illegality  of  holding  the 
Court  anywhere  except  in  the  town  of  Boston.   .  .  . 

"  The  opinion  of  the  Attorney  and  Solicitor-General 
has  very  little  weight  with  this  House  in  any  case,  any 
further  than  the  reasons  which  they  expressly  give  are 
convincins".  This  Province  has  suffered  so  much  bv 
unjust,  groundless,  and  illegal  opinions  of  those  officers 
of  the  crown,  that  our  veneration  or  reverence  for  their 
opinions  is  much  abated.  AVe  utterly  deny  that  the 
Attorney  and  Solicitor-General  have  any  authority  or 
jurisdiction  over  us,  any  right  to  decide  questions  in 
controversy  between  the  several  branches  of  the  Legis- 
lature here.  Nor  do  w^e  concede,  that  even  his  Majesty 
in  Council  has  any  constitutional  authority  to  decide 
such  questions,  or  any  controversy  whatever,  that  arises 
in  this  Province,  excepting  only  such  matters  as  are 
reserved  in  the  charter.   .   .   . 

"  The  House  are  still  ready  to  answer  for  the  ill  con- 


178  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

sequences  which  can  be  jnstly  attributed  to  them  ;  nor 
are  they  sensible  of  any  danger  from  exerting  the  power 
which  the  charter  has  given  them,  of  doing  their  part 
of  the  business  in  their  own  time.  That  the  Province 
has  enemies,  who  are  continually  defaming  it  and  their 
charter,  is  certain  ;  that  there  are  persons  who  are  en- 
deavoring to  intimidate  the  Province  from  asserting  and 
vindicating  their  just  rights  and  liberties,  by  insinua- 
tions of  danger  to  the  Constitution,  is  also  indisputable. 
But  no  instance  happened,  even  in  the  execrable  reign 
of  the  worst  of  the  Stuart  race,  of  a  forfeiture  of  a 
charter,  because  any  one  branch  of  a  legislative,  or  even 
because  the  whole  government  under  that  charter,  re- 
fused to  do  business  at  a  particular  time  under  grievous 
circumstances  of  ignominy,  disgrace,  and  insult ;  and 
when  their  charter  had  explicitly  given  to  that  govern- 
ment the  sole  power  of  judging  of  the  proper  season 
and  occasion  of  doing  business.  We  are  obliged,  at 
this  time,  to  struggle  with  all  the  powers  with  which  the 
Constitution  has  furnished  us,  in  defence  of  our  rights, 
to  prevent  the  most  valuable  of  our  liberties  from  being 
wrested  from  us  by  the  subtle  machinations  and  daring 
encroachments  of  wicked  ministers.  We  have  seen  of 
late  innumerable  encroachments  on  our  charter :  Courts 
of  Admiralty  extended  from  the  high  seas,  where  by 
the  compact  in  the  charter  they  are  confined,  to  num- 
berless important  causes  upon  land  ;  multitudes  of  civil 
officers,  the  appointment  of  all  which  is  by  charter  con- 
fined to  the  Governor  and  Council,  sent  here  from 
abroad  by  the  Ministry ;  a  revenue  not  granted  by  us, 
but  torn  from  us ;   armies  stationed  here  without  our 


1770]  ACCESSION  TO  THE  GOVERNORSHIP.  179 

consent ;  and  the  streets  o£  our  metropolis  crimsoned 
with  the  blood  of  our  fellow-subjects.  These  and  other 
grievances  and  cruelties,  too  many  to  be  here  enumer- 
ated, and  too  melancholy  to  be  much  longer  borne  by 
this  injured  people,  we  have  seen  brought  upon  us  by 
the  devices  of  ministers  of  state.  We  have  seen  and 
heard,  of  late,  instructions  to  governors  which  threaten 
to  destroy  all  the  remaining  privileges  of  our  charter. 
In  June,  1768,  the  House  by  an  instruction  were  ordered 
to  rescind  an  excellent  resolution  of  a  former  House  on 
pain  of  dissolution  :  they  refused  to  comply  with  so 
impudent  a  mandate,  and  were  dissolved  :  and  the  Gov- 
ernor, though  repeatedly  requested,  and  although  the 
exisfencies  of  the  Province  demanded  a  General  As- 
sembly,  refused  to  call  a  new  one  until  the  following 
Mav.  In  the  last  year,  the  General  Court  was  forced 
to  give  way  to  regular  troops,  illegally  quartered  in  the 
town  of  Boston,  in  consequence  of  instructions  to  crown 
officers,  and  whose  main  guard  was  most  daringly  and 
insultingly  placed  at  the  door  of  the  State-House  ;  and 
afterwards  they  were  constrained  to  hold  their  session 
at  Cambridge.  The  present  year  the  Assembly  is  sum- 
moned to  meet,  and  is  still  continued  there  in  a  kind  of 
duress,  without  any  reason  that  can  be  given,  any  mo- 
tive whatever  that  is  not  as  great  an  insult  to  them  and 
breach  of  their  privilege  as  any  of  the  foregoing.  Are 
these  things  consistent  with  the  freedom  of  the  House  ? 
or  could  the  General  Court's  tamely  submitting  to  such 
usage  be  thought  to  promote  his  Majesty's  service  ? 
Should  these  struggles  of  the  House  prove  unfortunate 
and  ineffectual,  this  Province  will  submit,  with  pious 


180  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

resisfnation,  to  the  will  of  Providence  :  but  it  will  be  a 
kind  of  suicide,  of  which  we  have  the  utmost  horror, 
thus  to  be  the  instruments  of  our  own  servitude."  ^ 

Hutchinson,  in  answering,  referred  particularly  to 
their  having  called  the  instructions  an  "  impudent  mcm- 
date.^'  "  It  may  not,"  he  says,  "  be  presumed  you  would 
have  done  this,  had  you  known  it  to  be  an  order  from 
his  Majesty.  I  wish  however  that  you  had  spared  this 
coarse  and  indecent  epithet  .  .  .  The  freedom  you  have 
used  with  the  characters  of  the  Attorneys  and  Solici- 
tors General  will,  I  fear,  likewise  bring  dishonor  upon 
you."^ 

He  argued  ably  the  right  of  convening  the  General 
Court  elsewhere  than  in  Boston,  and  again  prorogued 
the  Assembly,  this  time  to  September.  He  thought  he 
had  in  some  measure  weakened  the  opposition,  and 
hoped  for  still  greater  advances.  To  a  friend  in  Lon- 
don he  wrote  the  next  day  :  — 

"  The  House  having  persisted  in  their  refusal  to  do 
business,  I  have  prorogued  them  to  a  further  time,  bav- 
ins" Grained  over,  in  this  short  session,  enouo;-h  of  the 
Council  to  prevent  Bowdoin  from  obtaining  a  vote  for 
an  address  which  he  had  prepared  conformable  to  the 
sentiments  of  the  faction  of  the  House ;  and  I  hope  to 
keep  a  party  there  strong  enough  to  defeat  his  future 
attempts.  Neither  Worthington,  Murray,  Ruggles,  nor 
any  member  capable  of  opposing  Adams,  &c.,  came  to 
the  session.  Many,  if  not  a  majority  of  the  members, 
wish  to  go  to  business,  but  are  afraid.  I  will  have  a 
full  House  another  session,  and  have  yet  encouragement 

1  Bradford's  State  Papers,  p.  240,  etc.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  249. 


1770]  ACCESSION   TO  THE  GOVERNORSHIP.  181 

that  I  shall  carry  the  point  then,  notwithstanding  the 
unanimity  now. 

"  I  did  not  design  to  enter  into  any  argument  with 
them,  but  I  found  it  necessary  to  undeceive  the  ^^eople, 
and,  since  my  speech,  I  perceive  a  great  alteration  among 
them,  and  it  will  certainly  have  a  good  effect.  The 
answer,  drawn  by  Adams,  breathes  the  seditious  spirit 
which  has  appeared  in  Edes  and  Gills's  paper.  The 
rudeness  to  the  King,  to  the  House  of  Commons,  to  the 
Ministers  of  State,  the  declarations  of  independence, 
the  menaces  of  an  appeal  to  Heaven,  and  the  people's 
no  longer  bearing  with  their  injuries  without  seeking 
redress,  —  plainly  hinting  a  dowairight  revolt,  —  are  so 
criminal  and  at  the  same  time  so  daring,  that  some 
notice  will  be  taken  of  it,  if  the  nation  is  to  be  aroused 
by  anything."  ^ 

And  two  days  later  :  "  "VVorthington,  Ruggles,  Mur- 
ray, nor  any  other  persons  not  afraid  of  Adams  and  the 
Bostoneers,  would  attend.  If  I  could  persuade  a  few  to 
exert  themselves,  the  point  would  be  carried  in  the 
House  another  session."  " 

A  glance  at  the  Journal  of  the  Assembly  during  this 
session  shows  at  once  the  prominence  to  which  the 
"  Boston  seat  "  had  attained,  and  that  of  the  four  mem- 
bers the  Adamses  were  the  moving  spirits.  Governor 
Shirley,  now  old  and  h\dng  in  retirement  at  his  house 
in  Roxbury,  used  to  follow  the  controversies  m  the 
newspapers.  "  Who  are  the  Boston  seat?"  he  one  day 
asked,  diu"ing  the  discussion  of  this  session.     He  was 

^  Hutchinson  to  Bernard,  August  3,  1770. 
2  Hutchinson  to  Bernard,  August  5,  1770. 


182  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

answered,  "  Mr.  Gushing,  Mr.  Hancock,  Mr.  Samuel 
Adams,  and  Mr.  John  Adams."  "  Mr.  Cushmg  I  knew, 
and  Mr.  Hancock  I  knew,"  repHed  the  old  Governor, 
"  but  where  the  Devil  this  brace  of  Adamses  came  from, 
I  know  not."  "  This,"  says  John  Adams,  "  was  archly 
circulated  by  the  ministerialists,  to  impress  the  people 
with  the  obscurity  of  the  original  of  the  par  nohile  fra- 
trum,  as  the  friends  of  the  country  used  to  call  us  by 
way  of  retaliation."  ^ 

As  the  summer  proceeded,  the  non  -  importation 
agreement  weighed  heavily  upon  many  among  the  mer- 
chants ;  it  was  broken  extensively  in  New  York,  and 
the  example  was  followed  elsewhere.  The  government, 
too,  took  an  important  step  which  must  be  related. 
By  an  order  coming  from  the  King  in  Council,  Boston 
harbor  was  made  the  rendezvous  of  ships  stationed  on 
the  North  American  coast,  while  the  Castle,  it  was  in- 
dicated, must  be  garrisoned  by  regular  troops.  The 
charter  of  the  Province  distinctly  required  that  the 
Castle  and  forts  should  be  under  command  of  the  Gov- 
ernor ;  so  when  General  Gage  sent  instructions  to 
Hutchinson  to  deliver  Castle  WiUiam  to  Colonel  Dal- 
rymple,  a  violation  of  the  charter  seemed  to  the  Whigs 
inevitable,  if  the  order  were  complied  with.  Hutchinson 
at  once  obeyed,  withdrawing  the  Provincial  troops  who 
had  made  up  the  garrison,  and  turning  the  fortress  with 
its  stores  over  to  the  regulars.  In  so  doing  he  felt  he 
by  no  means  violated  the  charter.  "  I  told  the  Coun- 
cil," he  writes,  "  I  should  give  up  no  right  which  they 
had  by  charter.     The  Governor  was  to  commit  the  cus- 

1   Works,  vol.  ii.,  p.  233. 


1770]  ACCESSION  TO  THE  GOVERNORSHIP.  183 

tody  and  government  of  forts  to  such  persons  as  to 
himself  should  seem  meet.  It  now  seemed  meet  to  me 
to  commit  the  Castle  to  Colonel  Dalrymple,  to  be  gar- 
risoned by  the  regulars.  What  induced  me  to  this,  I 
was  not  liable  to  be  questioned  or  called  to  account 
for."  ^  Hutchinson  declares  that  this  affair  was  one 
of  the  most  difficult  to  manage  which  came  up  during 
his  administration.  "  There  happened,"  he  says,  "  to 
be  a  very  grand  meeting  of  merchants  and  tradesmen 
upon  the  subject  of  importation,  when  Adams  made  an 
attempt  to  inflame  them,  declaring  I  had  given  up  the 
Castle  and  would  give  up  the  charter  ;  but  some  of 
the  merchants  declared  that  was  not  the  business  of  the 
meetmg,  and  repeatedly  stopped  him  from  going  on." 

Before  the  excitement  had  in  any  degree  subsided, 
the  legislature,  prorogued  to  September,  met,  and  at 
once  took  the  Lieutenant-Governor  to  task  for  his  con- 
duct. He  replied  substantially  in  the  terms  already 
quoted,  always  wary  and  plausible,  and  taking  positions 
which  in  one  friendly  to  Parliament  and  prerogative 
were  quite  reasonable.  The  Assembly  on  their  side, 
through  Samuel  Adams,  pressed  him  hard,  and  the 
leader  spoke  out  in  the  public  press  still  more  strongly ; 
for  there  he  could  lay  aside  the  conventional  formalities 
and  terms  of  assumed  respect,  proper  in  a  legislative 
document. 

The  non-importation  agreement  had  now  thoroughly 
fallen  through  everywhere.  Samuel  Adams  expressed 
regret  at  its  failure,  but  said  it  had  lasted  longer  than 
he  had  expected.     He   began  to  hint  significantly  at 

^  Wells  :  Life  of  Samuel  Adams,  vol.  i.,  p.  356. 


184  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

other  means  of  resistance,  and  held  himself  ready  to 
revive  also  this  scheme,  if  opportunity  should  occur. 
Gradually,  too,  there  had  appeared  in  the  legislature  a 
disposition  to  yield  the  point  for  which  they  had  lately 
been  struggling  with  the  Lieutenant-Governor.  The 
House  had  at  one  time  been  nearly  unanimous  against 
proceeding  to  business  while  constrained  to  meet  in 
Cambridge.  In  the  fall  of  1770,  the  House  was  small, 
many  country  members  being  discouraged  from  attend- 
ing by  the  prorogations,  which  made  their  journeys  from 
home  of  no  avail.  The  spirit  of  ojDposition,  too,  was 
much  weakened,  and  symptoms  of  schism  appeared  in 
the  ranks  of  the  Whigs,  which  were  ominous  of  trouble 
to  them  in  time  to  come.  A  Committee  of  Corre- 
spondence, too,  set  on  foot  at  the  instance  of  Samuel 
Adams,  to  communicate  with  the  agent  in  England 
and  the  Speakers  of  the  different  Colonial  Assem- 
blies, had  only  a  languishing  activity.  Such  a  commit- 
tee had  long  been  a  favorite  scheme  of  Samuel  Adams. 
We  have  seen  the  first  hint  of  it  in  the  instructions  of 
1764.  The  "Circular  Letter"  of  1768  had  been  a 
step  in  the  same  direction  :  the  time  for  its  full  real- 
ization had  not  arrived ;  a  vivid  remembrance  existed 
of  the  resentment  produced  by  the  previous  attempts 
of  the  Colonies  to  reach  an  understanding  with  one 
another,  which  few  as  yet  cared  to  arouse  again.  The 
present  committee  was,  however,  the  precedent  for 
one  which  was  at  length  to  come,  and  which  was  to 
produce  extraordinary  results. 

On  the  third  anniversary  of  the  Boston  Massacre, 
John  Adams  wrote  in  his  diary :  "  The  part  I  took  in 


1770]  ACCESSION   TO   THE  GOVERNORSHIP.  185 

defence  of  Capt.  Preston  and  the  soldiers  procured  me 
anxiety  and  obloquy  enough.  It  Avas,  however,  one  of 
the  most  gallant,  generous,  manly,  and  disinterested  acts 
of  my  whole  life,  and  one  of  the  best  pieces  of  service 
I  ever  rendered  my  country.  Judgment  of  death  against 
those  soldiers  would  have  been  as  foul  a  stain  upon  this 
country  as  the  executions  of  the  Quakers  or  watches 
anciently.  As  the  evidence  was,  the  verdict  of  the  jury 
was  exactly  right.  This,  however,  is  no  reason  why  the 
town  should  not  call  the  action  of  that  night  a  massacre  ; 
nor  is  it  any  argument  in  favor  of  the  Governor  or  min- 
ister who  caused  them  to  be  sent  here.  But  it  is  the 
strongest  of  proofs  of  the  danger  of  standing  armies."^ 
John  Adams  is  entirely  just  in  the  estimate  he  puts 
upon  his  conduct  in  these  frank  terms.  His  defense 
of  the  soldiers  was  one  of  the  manliest  things  that  thor- 
oughly manly  man  ever  did,  and  his  summing  up  of 
the  matter  at  the  end  is  quite  right.  The  soldiers 
havin2"  been  summoned,  the  conflict  was  inevitable. 
Through  bad  trade  laws,  fear  of  ecclesiastical  encroach- 
ment, and  taxation  without  representation,  the  town 
was  justly  afire,  and  the  Province  behind  it.  The 
people  in  general  would  have  been  law-abiding  in  their 
remonstrance,  however  energetic ;  but  the  rough  ele- 
ment was  no  less  existent  then  than  in  every  modern 
American  municipality.  Hence,  with  such  abundant 
heat  developed,  a  roaring  flame  was  sure  to  catch.  If 
John  Adams  showed  himself  here  a  man  of  sense  and  a 
hero,  as  much  cannot    be  said  for  his  cousin  Samuel. 

1  John  Adams's  Diary,  Mar.  5,  1773.     The  trial  of  the  soldiers  was 
postponed  until  the  fall. 


186  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

The  dri\dng  out  of  tlie  regiments,  in  which  Samuel 
Adams  led  his  townsmen,  was  indeed  good  ser\'ice, 
accomphshed  with  all  possible  ability  and  energy ;  but 
in  the  vindictive  persecution  which  followed,  the  at- 
tempt to  arouse  in  England  and  America  indignation 
against  the  soldiers  by  documents  based  on  evidence 
hastily  collected  in  advance  of  trial,  from  witnesses 
utterly  unworthy,  and  in  the  attempt  to  precipitate  the 
trial  while  passion  was  still  hot,  the  misbehavior  of  the 
people  was  grave.  In  all  this  no  leader  was  more  eager 
than  Samuel  Adams ;  and  in  no  time  of  his  career, 
probably,  does  he  more  plainly  lay  himself  open  to  the 
charge  of  being  a  great  demagogue,  a  mere  mob-leader, 
than  at  this  moment. 

Hutchinson's  position  was  a  most  forlorn  one,  and  if 
all  its  embarrassments  are  considered,  it  is  hard  to  see 
how  he  could  have  done  better.  He  was  scarcely  more 
in  agreement,  it  must  always  be  said,  with  the  govern- 
ment policy,  really,  than  the  Whigs  themselves.  The 
trade-laws  he  was  no  friend  to ;  the  establishing  of  a 
bishop  he  had  no  desu-e  for,  though  his  tolerant  spirit 
made  him  more  indifferent  here  than  were  the  zealous 
Puritans.  The  Stamp  Act  and  the  Townshend  taxes  he 
would  never  have  counseled,  though  taxation  without 
representation  had  never  come  home  to  him  as  such  a 
crying  outrage  upon  English  freedom  as  Otis  and  his 
company  had  felt  it  to  be.  He  did  not  hke  the  laws ; 
but  since  they  were  laws,  they  ought  to  be  enforced,  and 
he,  through  no  seeking  of  his  own,  was  in  a  position 
where  he  must  be  the  enforcer.  There  is  little  evidence 
that  up  to  this  time  he  had  favored  the  coming  of  the 


1770]  ACCESSION  TO   THE  GOVEKNORSHIP.  187 

soldiers ;  but  being  at  hand  he  would  have  used  them, 
if  a  civil  magistrate  could  have  been  found  to  help  him 
out,  to  preserve  order  ;  and  he  desired  to  have  them 
held  in  respect  as  the  arm  of  the  government  to  which 
in  his  heart,  and  as  bound  by  his  oath,  he  was  loyal. 
He  was  no  democrat.  Samuel  Adams  did  him  no  in- 
justice in  saying:  "It  has  been  his  princii:)le  from  a  boy 
that  mankind  are  to  be  governed  by  the  discerning 
few;  and  it  has  ever  since  been  his  ambition  to  be 
the  hero  of  the  few."  ^  Matthew  Arnold's  doctrine  of 
the  "remnant"  he  accepted,  —  that  what  must  save  the 
world  is  a  small  leaven  of  excellent  men,  hidden  and 
active  within  the  mass.  If  he  felt  that  he  himself  was 
a  hero  of  that  few,  how  could  he  form  any  other  con- 
clusion as  he  reviewed  his  near  forty  years  of  public 
life,  crowded  as  they  were  with  acts  on  his  part,  which 
he  without  any  unreasonable  self-pride  could  see  had 
been  of  great  public  benefit ! 

In  the  spring,  the  Townshend  taxes  had  been  all  re- 
pealed except  as  regards  the  one  article,  tea ;  the  pream- 
ble to  this  Act,  asserting  the  right  in  Parliament  to 
legislate  for  the  Colonies  in  aU  cases  whatsoever,  was 
maintained,  and  the  tax  on  tea  was  to  secure  its  acknow- 
ledgment. Hutchinson  would  gladly  have  had  the  Act 
repealed  without  exception.  "  I  know  not  what  reason," 
he  wrote  October  15,  1770,  "  may  make  it  necessary  to 
continue  the  duty  on  tea;  but  I  think  the  repeal  of 
it,  or  making  the  same  duty  payable  in  England,  is 
necessary  to  prevent  disorders  in  the  Colonies."  ^     The 

^  Letter  to  Stephen  Sayre,  Nov.  23,  1770,  quoted  in  Frothinglmm's 
Life  of  Warren,  p.  159. 

^  Quoted  by  Frothingham  :  Life  of  Warren,  pp.  157,  158. 


188  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

Massacre  affair  turned  out  at  last  just  as  lie  would  have 
had  it,  except  that  he  could  not  extinguish  a  popular 
resentment  which  was  destined  to  crop  out  each  year, 
on  the  anniversary,  in  a  fierce  commemorative  address 
at  the  Old  South.  The  likelihood  of  his  succession  to 
the  governorship  grew  greater  as  the  year  passed  ;  and 
he  had  reason  to  entertain  confidence  that,  should  the 
appointment  come,  he  might  conciliate  those  estranged. 
If  there  could  only  be  an  acknowledgment  of  Parlia- 
mentary supremacy,  all  would  be  well.  Let  the  Colo- 
nies allow  that,  —  then  let  the  Home  government  forbear 
the  obtrusion  of  it  except  on  the  rarest  occasions  and 
in  the  gentlest  way,  and  only  in  cases  where  the  wel- 
fare of  the  whole  empire  was  concerned,  —  then  would 
follow  what  seemed  to  him  the  ideal  relation,  —  the 
ideal  relation,  at  least,  until  that  remote  future  should 
come  of  which  he  sometimes  spoke,  when  America,  con- 
stituting in  itself  a  mighty  empire,  might  with  advan- 
tagfe  cut  loose. 

At  the  prospect  of  promotion,  however,  his  attitude 
is  always  that  of  reluctance  rather  than  eagerness. 
Soon  after  the  Massacre,  he  begs  Hillsboro  to  be  al- 
lowed to  resign.  "  I  must  humbly  pray  that  a  person 
of  superior  powers  of  body  and  mind  may  be  appointed 
to  the  administration  of  the  government  of  this  Prov- 
ince. I  shall  faithfully  endeavor  to  support  such  per- 
son according  to  the  best  of  my  abilities,  and  I  think 
it  not  improbable  that  I  may  be  capable  of  doing  his 
Majesty  greater  service  in  the  Province,  even  in  a  pri- 
vate station,  than  at  present."  ^     To  Jackson  also  he 

^  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  Mar.  27,  to  Hillsboro. 


1770]  ACCESSION  TO   THE  GOVERNORSHIP.  189 

writes  :  "  I  have  received  your  most  obliging  letter  of 
the  IStli  of  November,  and  thank  you  for  your  kind 
offer  in  case  I  had  been  appointed  to  succeed  Sir 
Francis  Bernard.  I  find  my  constitution  is  not  strong 
enough  to  bear  so  great  a  burden,  and  I  hope  the  next 
vessel  will  bring  us  news  of  a  person  of  weight  and 
importance  appointed  to  the  government."  ^  The  Town- 
Meeting  seems  to  him  more  and  more  unlovely.  To 
John  Pownal,  now  confidential  secretary  of  Lord  Hills- 
boro,  he  writes  :  "  There  is  a  Town-Meeting,  no  sort 
of  regard  being  had  to  any  qualification  of  voters,  but 
all  the  inferior  people  meet  together  -,  and  at  a  late 
meeting  the  inhabitants  of  other  towns  who  happened 
to  be  in  town,  mixed  with  them,  and  made,  they  say 
themselves,  near  3000,  —  their  newspaper  says  4000, 
when  it  is  not  likely  there  are  1500  legal  voters  in  the 
town.  It  is  in  other  words  beino;'  under  the  o-overn- 
ment  of  the  mob.  This  has  given  the  lower  part  of  the 
people  such  a  sense  of  their  importance  that  a  gentleman 
does  not  meet  with  what  used  to  be  common  civility, 
and  we  are  sinking  into  perfect  barbarism.  ...  If  this 
town  could  be  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  Province, 
the  infection  has  not  taken  such  stronof  hold  of  the 
parts  remote  from  it.  The  spirit  of  anarchy  which  pre- 
vails in  Boston  is  more  than  I  am  able  to  cope  with."  ^ 

The  grand  cause  of  all  the  trouble  is,  in  his  mind, 
the  example  of  discord  set  in  England  ;  for  in  studying 
Hutchinson's  story  we  are  never  left  in  the  dark  that  a 
strife  scarcely  less  bitter  than  in  America  raged  in  Eng- 
land, and  that  America  constantly  drew  encouragement 

1  Mar.,  1770.  2  jyi^r.  26,  1770. 


190  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

in  her  sedition  from  the  seditious  spirits  over  sea,  who, 
in  his  view,  threatened  dire  ill,  as  they  fought  for  the 
rights  of  the  people. 

May  11,  1770,  to  Robert  Wilson  :  "  You  [English- 
men] are  carrying  your  indecent,  illiberal,  even  savage 
harangues  to  such  lengths  as  is  inconsistent  with  that 
respect  and  reverence,  which,  be  the  form  of  govern- 
ment what  it  may,  is  due  to  the  supreme  authority,  and 
which,  if  not  preserved,  the  authority  itself  must  soon 
fall.  You  do  not  consider  the  extensive  consequences 
of  such  irregularities.  They  are  not  confined  to  the 
island  of  Britain  ;  they  reach  to  the  Colonies.  We  ape 
you  in  everything,  especially  in  everything  which  is  a 
reproach  to  you ;  and  for  fear  of  falling  short,  we  go 
beyond  you,  and  are  more  licentious  than  even  the 
people  of  England.  This  is  in  part  to  be  attributed  to 
a  cause  which  does  not  exist  in  England.  The  supreme 
authority  with  you  nobody  disputes  where  it  lies.  With 
us  there  are  such  divisions  about  it  that  we  begin  to 
think  it  best  there  should  be  none,  and  that  every  man 
should  do  what  is  right  in  his  own  eyes.  Nobody  now 
dares  say  that  Parliament  has  a  right  to  tax  us.  Lord 
Chatham,  Lord  Camden,  and  others  support  us  [our 
Whigs]  in  that.  We  have  not  penetration  enough  to 
conceive  of  their  subtle  distinctions,  and  some  of  us 
suppose  that  if  you  once  set  bounds  to  the  supreme 
authority,  the  subjects  will  never  agree  among  them- 
selves where  the  line  shall  be  drawn  ;  and  our  people 
now  say,  that  if  we  ought  not  to  be  taxed  by  a  power 
without  us,  we  ought  not  to  be  bound  by  any  laws 
whatsoever  made  by  such  power ;  for  it  is  idle  to  say 


1770]  ACCESSION  TO   THE   GOVERNORSHIP.  191 

we  are  not  subject  to  a  Tax  Act  which  takes  a  small 
sum  out  of  our  pockets,  and  yet  are  subject  to  an  Act 
restraining-  our  trade  which  prevents  a  very  large  sum 
from  coming  into  our  pockets.  You  have  brought  all 
this  trouble  upon  yourselves  and  upon  us  by  your  own 
imprudence.  You  never  ought  to  have  made  any  con- 
cessions from  your  own  power  over  the  Colonies,  and 
you  ought  not  to  have  attempted  an  exertion  of  power 
which  caused  such  a  general  dissatisfaction  through  the 
Colonies.  God  only  knows  when  the  effects  of  this 
mistake  will  cease.  I  fear  not  until  you  can  unite 
among  yourselves ;  for  till  then  you  will  have  a  party 
who  will  encourage  disorder  and  confusion  in  the  Colo- 
nies for  the  sake  of  distressing  administration.  When 
your  political  frenzy  is  over  I  hope  ours  will  abate,  and 
that  the  confusions  will  be  less  than  they  are  at  present ; 
but  government  will  never  recover  its  vigour  until  the 
relation  the  Colony  bears  to  the  parent  state  is  better 
ascertained."  ^ 

To  Stephen  Sayre,  afterwards  Sheriff  of  London,  by 
the  efforts  of  the  Supporters  of  the  Bill  of  Rights, 
Samuel  Adams  wrote,  November  23,  the  following  pas- 
sage copied  here  from  the  autograph  :  ^  — 

"  Good  God  !  "  [This  is  crossed  out  in  the  draft,  but 
can  be  read  under  the  lines.]  "  Could  it  be  possibly 
imagined  that  a  man  that  is  bone  of  our  Bone  and  flesh 
of  our  flesh,  who  boasts  that  his  Ancestors  were  of  the 
first  Rank  and  figure  in  the  Country,  who  has  had  all 
the  Honors  lavished  upon  him  which  his  Fellow-Citizens 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  479,  etc. 

^  Now  in  the  Lenox  Library,  New  York. 


192  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSOX.  [1770 

had  it  in  their  power  to  bestow,  who  Avith  all  the  Arts 
of  personal  address  professes  the  strongest  attachment 
to  his  native  Country,  and  the  most  tender  feeling  for 
its  Rights,  could  it  be  imagined  that  such  a  man  should 
be  so  lost  to  all  sense  of  Gratitude  and  publick  Love, 
as  to  aid  the  Designs  of  despotick  power  for  the  sake  of 
rising  a  single  step  higher  ? 

"  Who  would  not  weep  if  such  a  man  there  be  ? 
Who  woukl  not  weep  if  H n  were  he  ?  " 

While  Samuel  Adams  J^ays  his  compliments  in  these 
terms  to  Hutchinson,  the  latter  is  not  behindhand  in 
his  tributes.  He  took  great  hope  from  the  failure  of 
the  non-importation  agreements,  the  subsidence  of  op- 
position to  his  policy  in  the  legislature,  the  acquittal  of 
Preston  and  most  of  the  culprits  of  the  Massacre,  and  a 
general  quiet  which  at  the  beginning  of  1771  prevailed 
in  the  Province. 

"  We  have  not  been  so  quiet  these  five  years.  The 
people  about  the  country  have  certainly  altered  their 
conduct,  and  in  this  town,  if  it  were  not  for  two  or 
three  Adamses,  we  should  do  well  enough.  I  don't 
know  how  to  account  for  the  obstinacy  of  one  [John 
Adams],  who  seemed  to  me,  when  he  began  life,  to 
promise  well.  The  other  [Samuel  Adams]  never  ap- 
peared different  from  what  he  does  at  present,  and,  I 
fear,  never  will.  The  name  of  '  Vindex,'  which  he  has 
assumed,  is  characteristic ;  but,  as  it  is  the  custom  now 
for  people  to  give  their  children  two  or  three  names,  I 
could  wish  he  would  add  '  Malignus  '  and  '  Invidus,'  to 
make  his  names  a  little  more  significative." 

Had  skies  been  calmer,  the  governorship  would  not 


1770]  ACCESSION  TO   THE  GOVERNORSHIP.  193 

have  been  distasteful  to  Hutchinson.  "  In  common 
times  a  Hfe  of  business  -would  be  agreeable  to  me,  and 
I  am  not  so  devoid  of  ambition  as  not  to  be  pleased 
with  the  honor  conferred  upon  me  by  my  Sovereign ; 
but  when  the  state  of  the  times  is  such  as  that  a  Gov- 
ernor must  be  deprived  of  that  tranquillity  of  mind 
without  which  life  itself  is  scarcely  endurable,  you  will 
not  wonder  that  I  am  not  fond  of  the  place."  The  un- 
wisdom of  the  ministry  was  scarcely  less  a  trial  to  him 
than  the  sedition  of  the  people.  "  I  wrote  the  IStli  of 
Feb.  that  in  my  opinion  it  was  better  to  leave  all  the 
duties  in  force  than  to  take  off  three  and  leave  the 
other."  ^  As  to  the  tumults:  "I  have  many  months 
ago  wrote  to  the  ministry  my  sentiments  upon  it,  but 
nothing  is  done.  If  it  has  not  already  been  too  long 
neglected,  I  think  if  this  session  of  Parliament  shoidd 
rise  without  something  more  than  Declaratory  Acts, 
without  some  new  provision  for  carrying  the  acts  into 
execution,  this  Province  will  never  submit  to  their 
authority  unless  compelled  to  it  by  superior  external 
force."  '"  "  I  cannot  help  flattering  myself  that  the  late 
doings  of  the  town  and  Province  have  before  this  time 
caused  such  measures  as  shall  restore  both  to  their  for- 
mer subordination."^  He  throws  out  aU  the  incitements 
he  can  to  a  vigorous  interference  by  the  government. 
"  May  22.  I  shall  have  trouble  enough  with  such  an 
Assembly,  but  I  would  willingly  undergo  it  a  whole 
year  rather  than  undergo  the  trouble  I  meet  with  from 

^  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  to  Commodore  Hood,  May  21,  1770. 

2  Ibid.,  to  the  same,  Apr.  9,  1770. 

3  Ibid.,  Apr.  19,  1770. 


194  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

the  dissolute  state  of  the  town  of  Boston  for  one 
month."  ^  The  merchants'  meetings  he  speaks  of  as 
"  made  up  of  Tom,  Dick,  and  Harry."  "  Will  the  na- 
tion never  have  any  sense  of  these  indignities  offered 
them  ?  "  He  writes  to  Hillsboro  that  he  keeps  Gage 
and  Hood  informed  so  they  can  be  ready  on  occasion, 
with  troops  and  ships.  ''  Opposition  never  will  expire 
until  the  Colonists  are  brought  to  know  that  their 
ancestors  remained  subjects  of  England  when  they  re- 
moved to  America,  as  fully  as  if  they  had  only  removed 
from  one  part  of  the  island  of  Britain  to  another 
part  of  the  same  island."  If  only  Boston  could  be 
disciplined  !  "  The  town  at  present  is  led  by  several 
persons  of  profligate  habits,  both  for  religion  and  mo- 
rality, and  about  an  equal  number  of  the  most  precisely 
devout.  It  is  difficult  to  say  wdiich  are  capable  of  the 
most  illegal  and  violent  acts  for  promoting  the  cause 
they  are  engaged  in.  By  this  union  they  have  this  great 
advantage,  that  the  body  of  the  people  who  are  divided 
in  proportions  not  very  different  are  more  easily  brought 
to  enlist,  some  under  the  one  sort,  and  some  the  other." 
Still  more  plainly :  "  At  present,  it  [the  Democratic 
tyranny  in  the  town]  is  kept  up  by  two  or  three  of  the 
most  abandoned  atheist  fellows  in  the  world,  united 
with  as  many  precise  enthusiast  deacons,  who  head  the 
rabble  in  all  their  meetings."^  "He  is  sure,"  if  the 
members  from  Boston  were  out  of  the  House,  he  should 
have  a  majority  in  favor  of  government.  "  In  this 
Province  the  faction  is  headed  by  the  lowest,  dirtiest, 
and  most  abject  part  of  the  whole  community,  and  so 

1  M.A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  491.  ^  juue  26,  1770. 


1770]  ACCESSION  TO  THE  GOVERNORSHIP.  195 

absiu'dly  do  the  Council  and  House  of  Representatives 
reason  that  they  justify  this  anarchy,  the  worst  of 
tyranny,  as  necessary  to  remove  a  single  instance  of 
what  they  call  oppression.  .  .  .  They  have  persecuted 
my  sons  with  peculiar  pleasure."  ^ 

August  26,  1770,  to  William  Parker,  of  Portsmouth: 
"  You  certainly  think  right  when  you  think  Boston 
peoj)le  are  rmi  mad.  The  frenzy  was  not  higher  when 
they  banished  my  pious  great-grandmother,  when  they 
hanged  the  Quakers,  when  they  afterwards  hanged  the 
poor  innocent  witches,  when  they  were  carried  away 
with  a  Land  Bank,  nor  when  they  all  turned  ^  New 
Lights,'  than  the  poHtical  frenzy  has  been  for  a  twelve- 
month past.  If  we  were  not  mad,  I  have  no  doubt  we 
might  enjoy  all  that  liberty  which  can  consist  ^nth.  a 
state  of  government,  and  that  the  affair  of  taxation  has 
given  them  so  much  trouble  in  England  as  to  prevent 
any  future  attempts,  unless  our  breaking  a  challenge 
and  suffering  indignities,  insults,  and  defiances,  shall 
provoke  them  to  it.  I  believe  the  delay  in  the  act 
you  refer  to  is  occasioned  merely  by  the  pressure  of  the 
affairs  of  the  kino-dom."  ^ 

August  28,  1770,  to  Bernard  :  "  The  distresses  of 
the  town  of  Boston  have  not  yet  opened  its  eyes.  They 
do  not  consider  that  it  is  only  a  few  merchants  in  Eng- 
land who  are  losers  by  their  non-importation,  and  that 
the  tradesmen  and  manufacturers  do  not  feel  it.  The 
infamous  MoHneux  and  Young,  with  Cooper,  Adams, 

1  To  Mr.  Silliman,  July  28,  1770,  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi. 
^  lu  the  baud  of  an  amanuensis,  as  is  now  frequently  the  case.    M.  A. 
Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  510. 


196  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

and  two  or  three  more,  still    influence   the  mob   who 
threaten    all  who    import ;    but  it   seems  impossible  it 
should  hold  much  longer ;  many  who  at  first  were  zeal- 
ous among  the  merchants,  against  importation,  are  now 
as  zealous  for  it.  .   .   .  An  Act  of  Parliament  for  the 
severe  punishment    of   all  who  shall    in    lilve   manner 
offend  for  the  future,  will  be  necessary ;  for  these  fel- 
lows having   had  power  so  long  in   their  hands,  will 
reassume  it  upon  the  lightest  pretence."^     What  fol- 
lows is  interesting  as  showing  that  the  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor had  to  supply  backbone  to  the  judges  at  the  trial 
of  Preston  and  the  soldiers.     "  I  have  persuaded  Judge 
Lynde,  who  came  twice  to  see  me  with  his  resignation  in 
his  pocket,  to  hold  his  place  a  little  longer.     Timid  as 
he  is,  I  think  Goffe  is  more  so :  the  only  difference  is, 
little  matters  as  well  as  great  frighten  Lynde.     Goffe 
appears  valiant  until  the  danger,  or  apprehensions  of  it, 
rise  to  considerable  height ;  after  that  he  is  more  terri- 
fied than  the  other.     Judge  Oliver  ^  appears  to  be  very 
firm,  though  threatened  in  yesterday's  paper;    and  I 
hope  Gushing  will  be  so  likewise.     The  prospect  is  cer- 
tainly much  better  than  with  any  new  judges  I  could 
have  appointed  who  would  have  accepted.     You  advise 
me  not  to  be  concerned  about  my  salary.    I  am  not.    It 
never  shall  have  the  least  influence,  and  I  will  never  re- 
move the  Court  to  Boston  a  minute  sooner  upon  that 
account ;  nor  will  I  give  the  ministry  any  trouble  about 
it  as  long  as  I  can  find  money  from  my  own  estate  to 
support  me."  , 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,yol.  xxvi.,  p.  540. 

2  Peter  Oliver,  wlio  succeeds  Hutchinson  as  Chief  Justice. 


1770]  ACCESSION  TO   THE  GOVERNORSHIP.  197 

He  is  convinced  that  independence  is  more  and  more 
the  aim  of  the  Whig's,  and  so  short-siglited  as  to  think 
it  would  be  certain  ruin  to  the  country.  July  26  :  "I 
have  not  the  least  doubt  that  if  Parliament  shall  fail 
the  next  session  as  it  has  done  the  last,  this  will  be  the 
case  in  every  Colony.  It  is  not  now  time  to  grudge  at 
a  small  expense  to  save  the  whole  Colony,  for  we  are 
strengthening  ourselves  every  year  against  the  authority 
of  Parliament,  and  the  reduction  will  grow  every  year 
more  difficult."  ^  As  often,  he  would  be  glad  to  have 
the  tea  duty  repealed.  October  3,  1770  :  "I  wish  that 
[tea]  had  been  joined  with  the  other  articles  in  the  last 
repealing  act ;  or  that  it  may  be  still  done,  and  the 
same  duty  remain  in  England.  .  .  .  Levelling  prin- 
ciples have  had  such  spread,  that  the  principal  men  of 
the  Province  for  understandina;  and  estate  have  been 
excluded  both  from  the  Council  and  House,  and  a  few 
artful  persons  have  governed  all  the  rest."  ^ 

October  3,  1770,  to  Whately  :  "I  think  it  must 
puzzle  the  wisest  heads  in  the  kingdom  to  restore  Amer- 
ica to  a  state  of  government  and  order.  ...  In  general 
I  can  say  that  the  wound  may  be  skinned  over,  but  can 
never  be  healed  until  it  be  laid  open  to  the  bone.  Par- 
liament must  give  up  its  claim  to  a  supreme  authority 
over  the  Colonies,  or  the  Colonies  must  cease  from  as- 
serting a  supreme  legislative  among  themselves.  Until 
these  points  are  settled,  we  shall  be  always  liable  upon 
every  shght  occasion  to  fresh  disorders." 

No  reader  of  these  extracts  will  fail  to  see  that 
Hutchinson,  in   his  constant  letters  to  men  in  power, 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  524.  2  /^^^^  ^(,1.  xxvii.,  p.  12. 


198  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1770 

and  to  those  in  confidential  and  close  relations  with 
them,  was  communicating  always  intelligence  and  ad- 
vice. That  there  was  any  misrepresentation  cannot  be 
said.  He  reported  what  his  eyes  saw  and  ears  heard ; 
though  another  mind  than  his  would  have  seen  and 
heard  in  the  spectacles  and  speeches  things  quite  dif- 
ferent. It  was  his  business  to  report  and  advise.  But 
he  was  laying  up  trouble  for  himself,  the  beginnings  of 
which  were  already  apparent.  In  view  of  what  was 
before  long  to  come,  there  is  something  pathetic  in  his 
frequent  and  earnest  petitions  in  these  days  to  keep 
secret  what  he  writes.  September  20,  1770,  to  Bernard  : 
"  It  will  hurt  my  interest  with  the  Council,  which  was 
every  day  increasing.  Indeed,  a  Governor  must  cease 
from  transmitting  what  passes  here,  vmless  some  way  can 
be  found  to  keep  it  from  coming  back  again  ;  for  it  not 
only  makes  him  obnoxious  to  the  particular  persons  to 
whom  what  he  transmits  more  immediately  relates,  but 
he  is  exposed  to  the  rage  of  the  people  and  destitute  of 
every  protection  and  defence."  ^ 

September  28,  1770,  to  Bernard  :  "  Either  they  [cer- 
tain letters]  came  from  copies  that  were  laid  before  the 
House  of  Commons,  or  they  have  corrupted  some  of 
the  clerks  in  the  office.  I  cannot  conceive  of  a  third 
way  of  coming  at  them.  I  heard  a  gentleman  say  he 
went  into  Dr.  Cooper's  room,  and  saw  a  large  table 
spread  with  them.  Pray  endeavor  that  more  care  may 
be  taken  to  prevent  copies  of  letters  coming  among  us. 
I  have  said  something  to  Lord  Hillsboro  of  the  temper 
people  were   in   and    their   opposition    to  government, 

^  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  5. 


1770J  ACCESSION  TO  THE  GOVERNORSHIP.  199 

which  though  strictly  true  and  incumbent  on  me  to 
mention,  yet  if  they  must  be  laid  before  the  House 
of  Commons,  and  from  thence  or  by  any  other  means 
come  over  here,  I  have  no  security  against  the  rage  of 
the  people."  ^ 

September  28,  1770,  to  Hillsboro :  "  I  have  wrote 
nothing  Avliich  I  cannot  justify ;  but  in  these  times  it  is 
not  safe  to  speak  what  in  ordinary  times  would  meet 
with  no  exception."  ^ 

In  time  now  not  far  off,  Hutchinson  was  to  be  ac- 
cused of  wishino^  to  have  the  constitution  chanofed. 
How  far  this  was  from  the  truth  appears  from  passages 
in  a  letter  to  Hillsboro,  published  in  the  "  Proceedings 
of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,"  vol.  xix.,  p. 
129,  etc. :  "  Measures  for  reforming  the  constitution  of 
any  people  under  such  circumstances  will  probably  be 
ineffectual,  and  tend  to  increase  their  disorders.  .  .  . 

"I  was  not  insensible  of  the  peculiar  defects  in  the 
constitution  of  this  Province,  and  I  have  complained  of 
the  Council  as  being  under  undue  influence,  and  cast- 
in  o-  their  weiirht  into  that  scale  which  had  much  too 
great  proportion  before  ;  but  I  was  doubtful  myself, 
and  I  found  some  judicious  persons  in  whom  I  could 
confide  to  be  doubtful,  also,  whether,  while  the  body  of 
the  people  continued  in  the  state  they  were  then  in, 
such  councillors  as  should  be  appointed  by  the  Crown 
would  dare  to  undertake  the  trust ;  or  if  they  should 
do  it,  whether  the  people  in  general  would  not  refuse 
to  submit  to  their  authority  ;  and  I  feared  the  conse- 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  6,  etc.;  not  in  Hutchinson's  band. 
^  Quoted  in  Almon's  Remembrancer,  177G,  p.  158. 


200  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1771 

quences  o£  either  would  more  than  countervail  the  ad- 
vantages which  would  arise  merely  from  an  alteration 
in  the  constitution  if  accomplished." 

To  glance  for  a  moment  at  Hutchinson's  private  life. 
His  two  sons,  Thomas  and  Elisha,  as  we  have  seen,  were 
playing  a  part  in  the  eye  of  the  public  as  merchants  to 
whom  the  non-importation  agreements  were  ohnoxious. 
The  latter  was  soon  to  marry  Miss  Mary  Watson,  of 
Plymouth.  "  Billy,"  the  youngest  boy,  had  gone  to 
England,  his  father,  with  affectionate  eyes,  from  Milton 
Hill,  watching  the  disajjpearance  of  the  ship  that  bore 
him,  as  the  breeze  carried  it  to  sea  past  Nantasket.  He 
was  apparently  a  heedless  and  selfish  youth,  for  his 
father  often  chided  him  for  indifference  to  the  friends 
he  had  left  behind,  shown  in  the  fact  that  he  almost 
never  wrote.^  The  two  girls  were  growing  into  attrac- 
tive womanhood.  ''  Sallie,"  the  elder,  now  the  wife  of 
Dr.  Peter  Oliver,  lived  at  Middleboro,  at  the  handsome 
estate  of  her  husband's  father,  Chief  Justice  Peter 
Oliver.  "  Peggy,"  the  younger,  seems  especially  to 
have  been  her  father's  darling,  a  delicate  figure,  des- 
tined like  her  mother  to  an  early  death  by  consumption. 
The  student  of  the  Letter  Books  comes  into  a  close  re- 
lation with  her,  for  she  was  often  her  father's  amanuen- 
sis, and  the  fine,  childlike  hand  becomes  very  familiar. 
She  must  have  been  a  beauty,  for  she  made  an  easy 
capture  of  the  son  of  a  nobleman,  a  young  naval  officer 

^  Dec.  22,  1772:  "I  could  not  have  thought  it  possible  that  in  seven 
months  I  should  have  received  only  two  short  letters  from  you,  and  uone 
of  the  rest  of  your  friends  so  much  as  one." 


1771]  ACCESSION  TO  THE  GOVERNORSHIP.  201 

attached  to  the  Boston,  one  of  the  ships  of  the  fleet  at 
anchor  in  the  harbor.  The  following  correspondence 
is  interesting.  The  courtliness  and  prudence  of  Hutch- 
inson's note  are  quite  in  character :  — 

"  Sir,  —  The  various  methods  there  are  of  writing 
on  the  follo^^^ng  subject,  make  me  rather  at  a  loss 
which  to  take,  as  I  am  a  stranger  to  you,  —  but  as  the 
nature  of  it  requii'es  plain  dealing,  I  shall  take  the  lib- 
erty to  consider  you  as  a  friend,  and  write  to  you  as 
such  :  you  will  perhaps.  Sir,  think  it  rather  strange, 
and  be  much  surprised  at  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  par- 
ticularly as  I  am  going  to  ask  a  great  favor ;  no  less. 
Sir,  than  the  honor  of  an  alliance  to  your  family.  I 
have  had  the  honor  of  seeing  Miss  Hutchinson,  but 
never  in  my  life  spoke  to  her.  I  need  not  tell  you  I 
admire  her  when  I  say  I  wish  to  call  her  mine  ;  on 
seeing  her  the  first  time,  I  determined  to  endeavour  to 
cultivate  her  acquaintance,  but  have  not  been  so  happy 
as  to  succeed  ;  therefore  I  should  wish  as  the  most  hon- 
ourable method  of  proceeding,  to  get  acquainted  with 
her  through  the  means  of  her  father ;  and  I  shoidd  be 
happy  in  obtaining  your  permission.  Sir,  to  \asit  her. 
I  would  say  more  on  the  occasion,  but  yet  not  near  so 
much  as  what  I  could  say  to  you  in  person ;  therefore, 
Sir,  if  you  '11  favor  me  with  a  line,  directed  to  me  at 
Mr.  Perkins',  near  the  old  Brick  meeting  House,  I  will 
do  myself  the  honour  of  waiting  on  you,  any  time 
you  '11  apoint. 

"  You  will  find  me  act,  from  beginning  to  end,  as  a 
man  of  honour,  and  I  am  very  certain  that  you,  on 


202  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1771 

your  part,  will  do  the  same.     I  have  the  honour  to  re- 
main with  the  utmost  esteem  and  respect, 
"Sir, 

Your  very  obedient  and 
most  humble  servant, 

Wm.  FiTZ WILLIAM. 

"April  ye  6th,  1771." 

[Written  on  the  same  sheet  with  the  above.] 

"  Boston,  6  Ap.,  1771. 

Sm,  —  I  am  not  insensible  that  such  an  alHance  as 
you  have  j)roposed  would  be  doing  the  greatest  honour 
to  me  and  my  family.  I  am  at  the  same  time  very  sen- 
sible that  it  cannot  be  approved  of  by  the  Noble  Fam- 
ily to  which  you  belong.  In  my  station,  from  respect 
to  My  Lord  Fitzwilliam,  I  should  think  it  my  duty  to 
do  all  in  my  power  to  discourage  one  of  his  sons  from 
so  unequal  a  match  with  any  person  in  the  Province, 
and  I  should  most  certainly  be  highly  criminal  if  I 
should  countenance  and  encourage  a  match  wdth  my 
own  dauo'hter. 

"  I  hope,  sir,  you  will  think  this  a  sufficient  reason 
for  my  not  acceding  to  your  proposal.  I  sincerely  wish 
you  happy  in  a  person  more  suitable  to  your  birth  and 
rank,  and  who  may  be  approved  by  your  R.  Honourable 
Parents."  ^ 

Here  is  a  letter  to  a  tenant  who  leased  a  farm  in 
Rhode  Island,  in  which  the  Governor  appears  to  good 
advantage.     "February  15.     You  judge  wrong  if  you 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  XXV.,  p.  474. 


1771]  ACCESSIOX  TO   THE   GOVERNORSHIP.  203 

think  the  arrival  of  my  commission  will  lessen  my  friend- 
ship or  make  me  expect  any  sort  of  ceremony  ;  and  if 
you  should  use  any,  you  could  not  disoblige  me  more. 
Pride  is  always  odious,  but  in  an  old  man  whose  dust, 
be  his  station  what  it  may,  in  a  very  little  while  will  not 
be  distinguishable  from  that  of  the  beggar,  is  unpar- 
donable. I  do  not  despair,  as  I  go  sometimes  to  see 
my  daughter  and  grand-daughter  at  Middleborough,  of 
being  able  to  run  away  ui  an  afternoon  and  drink  a 
dish  of  tea  with  you,  before  summer  is  out."  ^ 

In  March,  Hutchinson  received  his  Commission  as 
Governor,  his  wife's  brother-in-law,  Andrew  Oliver,  being 
at  the  same  time  commissioned  Lieutenant-Governor,  and 
Thomas  Flucker,  Secretary.  At  his  inauguration,  while 
the  Assembly  and  the  Congregational  ministers  were 
silent,  there  were  many  fehcitations.  Harvard  College, 
among  the  rest,  addressed  him  with  congratulations, 
the  students  singing  in  Holden  Chapel  the  anthem, 
"  Thus  saith  the  Lord :  From  henceforth,  behold  !  all 
nations  shall  call  thee  blessed  ;  for  thy  rulers  shall  be  of 
thy  own  kindred,  your  nobles  shall  be  of  yourselves, 
and  thy  governor  shall  proceed  from  the  midst  of  thee." 
In  the  better  prospect  for  the  Tory  cause,  which  had 
come  to  exist,  Hutchinson  was  cheerful  and  hopeful. 
His  letters  now  are  seldom  in  his  own  hand,  his  amanu- 
ensis being  often  his  daughter. 

March  9,  1771,  to  Hillsboro  :  "  My  friends  may  flat- 
ter me,  but  they  assure  me  that  a  very  great  majority 

^  Feb.  15, 1771,  to  Cliesebroiigh.    His  Rhode  Island  estate  was  cue  of 
the  finest  in  that  Province.     M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  118. 


204  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1771 

of  the  people  in  the  country  towns  rejoice  at  the  ap- 
pointment. In  Boston  they  say  nothing  to  my  charge 
but  my  bad  principles  in  government.  The  late  news- 
paper performances  which  undoubtedly  came  from  one 
or  more  of  the  representatives  of  the  town,  boldly  assert 
an  independence  of  all  parliamentary  authority,  and 
declare  the  King,  by  his  representative,  the  Council, 
and  the  Assembly  in  each  Colony,  to  be  a  distinct  legis- 
lature, subject  to  no  other  power  upon  earth.  A  great 
part  of  the  people  easily  embrace  the  principle  without 
perceiving  that  it  destroys  their  connexion  with  Great 
Britain,  and  leaves  them  no  better  claim  to  protection 
than  the  King's  subjects  have  in  the  electorate  of  Han- 
over. It  would  be  to  no  more  j)urpose  to  reason  with 
them  than  with  an  enthusiast  who  holds  an  absurd  tenet 
in  religion  ;  and  whilst  principles  are  avowed  and  pub- 
lished in  England  with  impunity  which  are  equally 
criminal,  and  equally  tend  to  sedition,  the  judges  here 
seem  to  be  of  opinion  that  it  can  do  no  good  to  bring 
information  against  the  publisher  of  such  libels,  as  the 
juries  would  probably  acquit  them,  as  they  have  lately 
done  in  several  instances  in  Westminster  Hall.  These 
acquittals,  the  infamous  libels  of  Junius,  and  some 
speeches  said  to  be  made  in  Parliament,  all  which  are 
immediately  republished  and  greedily  swallowed  down, 
have  in  some  degree  revived  the  spirits  of  the  faction 
among  us,  but  I  hope  not  so  far  as  to  cause  any  fresh 
disorders  ;  for  the  people  in  the  country  seem  generally 
convinced  of  the  folly  of  those  which  are  past."  ^ 
March  17,  1771,  to  Josias  Lyndon,  Esq.,  of  Rhode 

1  M.A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  128. 


1771]  ACCESSION   TO   THE  GOVERNORSHIP.  205 

Island  :  "  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  kind  con- 
gratulations on  my  advancement  to  the  chief  seat  of 
government.  A  sense  of  the  difficulty  attending  so  im- 
portant a  trust  prevailed  for  some  time  over  the  desire 
of  honor  and  fame  which  we  all  have  more  or  less  of, 
and  I  desired  to  be  excused  from  the  post.  I  really 
expected  that  a  new  appointment  would  be  made  unless 
the  commissions  were  issued  before  my  letters  arrived  ; 
but  my  Lord  Hillsboro  refused  to  make  any  alteration 
until  he  should  receive  answers  to  letters  Avliich  he  had 
just  before  wrote  advising  me  in  form  of  the  appoint- 
ment. My  friends  who  agreed  with  me  before  in  the 
expediency  of  declming  then  urged  me  to  accept,  espe- 
cially as  I  was  told  it  was  uncertain  how  long  I  should 
be  obliged  to  hold  the  place  of  Lieutenant-Governor 
and  Commander-in-Chief,  which  subjected  me  to  all  the 
biu'dens,  but  did  not  entitle  me  to  all  the  advantages  of 
the  Chief-Governor's  place."  ^ 

April  1,  1771,  to  Colonel  Williams,  Hatfield  :  "  It 's 
certain  all  the  valuable  part  of  the  town  have  shown 
me  as  much  respect  personally,  as  well  as  in  my  public 
character,  as  I  could  desire.  Two  Adamses,  Phillips, 
Hancock,  and  two  or  three  others,  who,  mth  the  least 
reason,  have  been  the  most  injurious,  are  all  of  any 
sort  of  consideration  who  stand  out.  I  cannot  expect 
any  great  mark  of  regard  from  the  House  whilst  the 
Boston  members  are  aided  by  a  gentleman  of  your 
county  who  has  so  much  influence."  ^ 

The  first  anniversary  of  the   Massacre  lia\dng  been 

^  M.  A.  Hixt.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  131. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  149.     Hawley  is  referred  to. 


206  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1771 

commemorated  by  an  oration,  in  which  the  power  of 
Parliament  to  legislate  for  the  Colonies  was  denied, 
Hutchinson  writes,  April  3,  1771,  to  Secretary  Pownal : 
"  It  must  show  to  Parliament  the  necessity  of  such  an 
alteration  in  the  constitution  of  the  town,^  as  some  time 
ago  you  gave  me  a  hint  of,  and  will  be  sufficient  to 
render  an  act  for  that  purpose  unexceptionable.  ...  It 
has  been  some  inconvenience  to  me  to  be  without  my 
salary  for  more  than  twenty  months,  the  only  grant  I 
have  received  from  the  Province  just  enabling  me  to 
pay  the  fees  of  my  commission." 

April  19,  1771,  to  Hillsboro  :  "  In  these  votes  and 
in  most  of  the  public  proceedings  of  the  town  of 
Boston,  persons  of  the  best  character  and  estate  have 
little  or  no  concern.  They  decline  attending  Town- 
Meetings  where  they  are  sure  to  be  outvoted  by  men  of 
the  lowest  order,  all  being  admitted,  and  it  being  very 
rare  that  any  scrutiny  is  made  into  the  qualification  of 
voters."  ^ 

May  21,  1771,  to  Bernard  :  "  The  town  of  Boston  is 
the  source  from  whence  all  the  other  parts  of  the  Prov- 
ince derive  more  or  less  troubled  water.  When  you 
consider  what  is  called  its  constitution,  your  good  sense 
will  determine  immediately  that  it  never  can  be  other- 
wise for  a  long  time  together,  whilst  the  majority  which 
conducts  all  affairs,  if  met  together  upon  another  occa- 
sion, would  be  properly  called  a  mob,  and  are  persons 

^  He  is  thinking  here  of  no  change  in  the  charter,  but  only  of  bring- 
ing back  the  Town-Meetings  to  the  limited  functions  originally  laid  down 
for  them,  and  from  which  he  believes  they  have  illegally  departed. 

2  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  151. 


1771]  ACCESSION   TO   THE   GOVERNORSHIP.  207 

of  such  rank  and  circumstance  as  in  all  communities 
constitute  a  mob,  there  being  no  sort  of  regulation  of 
voters  in  practice  ;  and  as  these  will  always  be  most  in 
number,  men  of  weight  and  value,  although  they  wish 
to  suppress  them,  cannot  be  induced  to  attempt  to  do 
it  for  fear  not  only  of  being  outvoted,  but  affronted 
and  insidted.  Call  such  an  assembly  what  you  will,  it 
is  really  no  sort  of  government,  not  even  a  democracy, 
at  best  a  corruption  of  it.  There  is  no  hopes  of  a  cure 
by  any  legislative  but  among  ourselves  to  compel  the 
town  to  be  a  corporation.  The  people  will  not  seek  it, 
because  every  one  is  sensible  his  miportance  will  be 
lessened.  If  ever  a  remedy  is  found,  it  must  be  by 
compelhng  them  to  swallow  it,  and  that  by  an  exterior 
power,  —  the  Parliament."  ^ 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  173. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

EOYAL    INSTRUCTIONS. 

In  April  the  legislature  assembled,  received  from 
Hutchinson  the  formal  announcement  of  his  promo- 
tion, and  at  once  requested  him  to  remove  them  to 
their  usual  seat,  the  town-house  in  Boston.  Hutchin- 
son declined,  stating  that  one  of  the  obstructions  to 
the  desired  removal  was  the  denial  by  the  House  of  the 
right  reserved  by  the  Crown  to  convene  the  Court  in 
such  place  as  was  thought  proper.^  Samuel  Adams 
replied  in  a  dignified  strain  to  the  Governor's  address, 
speaking  of  the  Assembly  as  "  His  Majesty's  Com- 
mons ; "  a  style  which  his  adversary  did  not  fail  to  note 
as  something  new  and  to  be  disapproved,  rightly  sur- 
misinof  that  the  intention  was  to  assert  for  the  House  su- 
preme  and  independent  legislative  power.  The  tedious 
controversy,  however,  over  the  removal  of  the  legisla- 
ture, was  about  giving  way  to  a  new  topic  of  dispute. 

Early  in  the  session  bills  were  passed  granting  the 
usual  sums  for  the  salary  of  the  Governor  and  defray- 
ing public  expenses.  When  three  Aveeks  had  gone, 
upon  inquiry  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Province,  it  did 
not  appear  that  the  bills   had   been  approved  by  the 

^  Hutchinson  declares  he  would  never  have  permitted  a  royal  instruc- 
tion to  justify  a  departure  from  law  ;  he  allowed  to  it  force  only  in  cases 
where  there  was  no  law.     Hist.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  342. 


1771]  ROYAL  INSTRUCTIONS.  209 

Governor,     Among-  the  Samnel  Adams  manuscripts  is 
contained  the  following  draft :  — 

"  In  the  House  of  Representatives,  April  25,  1771. 
Ordered,  that  Mr.  Samuel  Adams,  Brig.  Ruggles,  Mr. 
Hersy,  Coll.  Bowers,  and  Mr.  Godfrey  be  a  committee 
to  wait  on  his  Excellency  with  the  folloAving  message. 
May  it  please  your  Excellency,  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, after  enquiry  of  the  Secretary  cannot  be  made 
certain  whether  you  have  yet  given  your  Assent  to  two 
Bills  which  were  laid  before  your  Excellency  early  in 
this  Session  ;  The  one  for  granting  the  sum  of  five 
hundred  and  six  pounds  for  your  services  when  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor and  Commander-in-Cheife ;  and  the 
other  for  granting  the  usual  Sum  of  Thirteen  hundred 
Pounds  to  enable  your  Excellency  as  Governor  to  carry 
on  the  affairs  of  this  Pro\4nce.  And  as  your  Excel 
lency  was  not  pleased  to  give  your  Assent  to  another 
Bill  passed  in  the  last  Session  of  this  Assembly  for 
granting  the  sum  of  three  hundred  and  twenty-five 
pounds  for  your  ser\aces  when  in  the  Chair  as  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, the  House  is  apprehensive  that  you 
are  under  some  Restraint ;  and  they  cannot  account  for 
it  upon  any  other  Principle  but  your  having  Provision 
for  your  Support  in  some  new  and  unprecedented 
manner.  If  the  apprehensions  of  the  House  are  not 
groundless,  they  are  sollicitous  to  be  made  certain  of  it 
before  an  End  is  put  to  the  present  Session  and  think 
it  their  Duty  to  pray  your  Excellency  to  inform  them 
whether  any  provision  is  made  for  your  support  as  Gov- 
ernor of  this  Province  independent  of  his  Majesty's 
Commons  in  it."  ^ 

1  From  the  autograph. 


210  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1771 

The  Whisfs  felt  that  their  cause  would  be  much  hurt 
if  the  Governor  and  judges  were  permitted  to  derive 
their  support  from  other  sources  than  the  people.  So 
one  form  of  disagreement  succeeded  another  :  what- 
ever form  came  up,  it  was  promptly  met ;  and  always,  at 
the  front  of  the  patriotic  picket,  it  was  the  voice  of 
Samuel  Adams  that  challenged  the  danger.  Hutchin- 
son, on  the  other  hand,  beheved  that  by  charter  the 
Governor  was  intended  to  be  independent,  a  condition 
not  at  all  possible  if  his  support  were  a  popular  grant.^ 

The  hopes  of  the  Tories  were  high  in  the  spring  of 
1771.  Among  the  Whigs,  men  like  Andrew  Eliot 
thought  "  it  might  be  as  well  not  to  dispute  in  such 
strong  terms  the  legal  right  of  Parliament.  This  is 
a  point  which  cannot  be  easily  settled  and  had  there- 
fore best  be  touched  very  gently."  Otis,  who  at  this 
time  had  a  return  of  reason,  and  who  was  promptly 
chosen,  together  with  Hancock,  Gushing,  and  Samuel 
Adams,  to  the  Assembly,  on  the  7th  of  May,  reduced 
to  a  mere  wreck,  and  in  his  weakness  the  prey  of  a 
contemptible  jealousy  towards  Samuel  Adams,  pursued 
a  strongly  reactionary  course.  Hancock,  too,  gave  such 
signs  of  disgust  at  his  former  associates  and  opinions, 
that  the  Governor  had  strong  hopes  of  bringing  him 
over  to  the  Tory  side.  Gushing,  courtly  and  com- 
plaisant, regularly  elected  Speaker,  no  doubt,  in  good 
part,  because  Hutchinson,  fearing  him  less  than  any 
other  in  the  "  faction,"  did  not  veto  him  as  he  would 
have  done  a  stronger  man,  was  little  more  than  a 
figure-head.     John  Adams,  out  of  conceit  with  public 

^  Hist.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  359. 


1771]  ROYAL   INSTRUCTIONS.  211 

life,  where  abuse,  lie  alleged,  was  more  often  the  re- 
ward of  service  than  fame  or  profit,  had  withdrawn 
himself  to  his  law  practice.  Hawley  was  absent  far  in 
the  interior  except  during  the  sessions  ;  and  even  then, 
able  and  respected  though  he  was,  his  unevenness  of 
temper  made  him  an  unstable  prop.  Samuel  Adams, 
almost  alone,  his  resolution  not  a  whit  abated  by  his 
isolation,  took  up  the  burden.  Courteous,  calm,  per- 
sistent, Avhen  the  deputies  were  scattered  he  spread  his 
thoughts  in  the  newspapers  ;  he  was  busy,  too,  in  a 
score  of  unrecorded  ways,  consummate  manager  that 
he  was,  talking,  sending  letters  and  messages,  winning 
a  wavering  friend  by  a  smile  and  a  hand-shake,  running 
under  some  Tory  mine  by  a  cunning  counter-mine,  — 
forever  trying  to  stem  the  reaction  that  had  set  in. 
"  Our  sons  of  sedition,"  writes  Hutchinson  to  Bernard, 
"  are  afraid  of  a  change  of  members  in  many  towns, 
and  make  a  strong  effort  in  the  newspapers  to  prevent 
it.  In  this  week's  paper  you  see  the  black  art  of 
Adams."  But  for  Samuel  Adams,  the  patriot  cause 
at  this  time  must  have  gone  by  the  board. 

When,  on  May  29,  the  legislature  met,  Adams  as 
usual  being  chosen  Clerk  of  the  House,  the  change  of 
tone  became  instantly  manifest.  Otis,  even  in  his  de- 
cay, had  an  overmastering  charm.  At  his  instance, 
while  the  remonstrance  was  passed,  as  had  become 
usual,  against  the  removal  of  the  legislature  from  Bos- 
ton, the  clause  was  struck  out  which  denied  to  the 
Crown  the  right  to  remove.  The  principle  so  long  con- 
tended for  was  thus  sacrificed,  the  right  of  prerogative 
to  infringe  upon  the  charter  at  this  point  was  acknow- 


212  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1771 

ledgecl,  and  it  would  be  easy  to  proceed  to  the  ground 
that  the  Crown  might  take  what  liberties  it  pleased  with 
the  charter.  Otis's  change  was  indeed  startling.  Wrote 
John  Adams :  "  John  Chandler,  Esq.,  of  Petersham, 
gave  me  an  account  of  Otis's  conversion  to  Toryism. 
Adams  was  going  on  in  the  old  road,  and  Otis  started 
up  and  said  they  had  gone  far  enough  in  that  way ;  the 
Governor  had  an  undoubted  right  to  carry  the  court 
where  he  pleased,  and  moved  for  a  committee  to  repre- 
sent the  inconveniences  of  sitting  there,  and  for  an 
address  to  the  Governor.  He  was  a  good  man ;  the 
ministers  said  so,  and  it  must  be  so  ;  and  moved  to  go 
on  with  business  ;  and  the  House  voted  everything  he 
moved  for.     Boston  people  say  he  is  distracted."  ^ 

Hutchinson  had  high  hopes  of  future  advantages 
from  the  position  the  repentant  Otis  was  inclined  to 
take.  "The  House,"  he  wrote,  "having  acknowledged 
my  right  to  convene  the  Court  where  I  think  projjer, 
have  strengthened  government,  and  given  me  more 
weight  in  the  Province  than  they  intended.  The  peo- 
ple being  made  sensible  that  I  claimed  no  more  than 
the  just  prerogatives  in  this  instance,  think  more  favor- 
ably of  me  and  of  the  principles  I  avow  in  other  points 
in  difference.  The  return  of  the  Court  to  Boston,  in 
consequence  of  this  concession,  will  give  me  further 
weight,  and  it  may  be,  enable  me  to  obtain  other  points 
equally  reasonable  for  them  to  concede."^ 

Bad  as  was  the  defection  of  James  Otis,  that  of  Han- 
cock was  not  less  harmful.     His  wealth,  popular  man- 

1  John  Adams's  Wo7-ks,  vol.  ii.,  p.  266. 

2  Wells  :  Life  of  Samuel  Adams,  vol.  i.,  p.  396. 


1771]  ROYAL  INSTRUCTIONS.  213 

ners,  and  some  really  strong  qualities,  made  his  in- 
fluence great,  in  spite  of  his  many  foibles.  Samuel 
Adams  had  exploited  Hancock,  with  all  his  consummate 
art,  ever  since  his  appearance  in  public  life,  making 
him  a  poAverful  pillar  of  the  popular  cause.  Con- 
temptuous allusions  to  Hancock  as  little  better  than  an 
ape  Avhom  Samuel  Adams  led  about  according  to  his 
will  have  come  down  from  these  times.  Vain  and  shal- 
low though  Hancock  may  have  been,  he  deserved  no 
such  disparagement ;  there  were  times  when  Hancock 
was  manly  and  rendered  great  service.  The  scoff,  how- 
ever, partially  indicates  the  relation  between  the  two 
men.  It  may  well  have  been  the  case  that,  through 
some  Tory  source,  some  such  uncomphmentary  descrip- 
tion of  the  relation  of  Hancock  to  Adams  reached  the 
ears  of  the  former.  Such  things  were  flying  in  the  air, 
and  Hancock  was  feeble  enough  to  be  moved  by  them 
if  they  came  to  his  ears.  Whatever  may  have  been 
the  reason,  Hancock  forsook  his  old  guide,  voted  with 
the  party  of  Otis  for  the  acknowledgment  of  Hutchin- 
son's riolit  to  convene  the  IcQ-islature  when  he  chose, 
and  so  far  coquetted  with  the  Tories  that  his  introduc- 
tion into  the  Council  through  their  agency  began  to 
seem  probable.  His  recreancy,  however,  was  only  short. 
Samuel  Adams  probably  never  experienced  a  greater 
mortification  than  when,  as  a  member  of  a  committee, 
by  command  of  the  House  he  waited  upon  Hutchinson, 
to  present  an  address  acknowledging  the  right  of  the 
Governor  to  remove  the  General  Court  "  to  Housatonic, 
in  the  western  extreme  of  the  Province,"  if  he  would ; 
nor,  on  the  other  hand,  did  the  Governor  ever  enjoy 


214  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1771 

a  greater  triumph.  Hutchinson  must  have  felt  that 
he  was  even  with  his  adversary  for  the  humiliation 
of  the  preceding  year,  the  driving  out  of  the  regiments. 
The  great  Whig  saw  his  influence  apparently  far  on  the 
wane.  He  suffered  keenly,  but  gave  no  sign  of  it,  and 
was  as  unremitting  as  ever  to  retrieve  the  lost  ground. 
So  hopeless  did  his  fall  seem  that  the  Tories  thought 
they  could  afford  to  pity  him.  Speaking  of  a  conversa- 
tion with  a  noted  Tory,  John  Adams  writes :  "  Spar- 
hawk  mentioned  the  intrepidity  of  Samuel  Adams,  a 
man,  he  says,  of  great  sensibility,  of  tender  nerves,  and 
harassed,  dependent,  in  their  power.  Yet  he  had  borne 
up  against  all ;  it  must  have  penetrated  him  very 
deeply."  ^  While  the  Assembly  followed  other  guides, 
the  faithful  "  Boston  Gazette "  gave  Samuel  Adams 
opportunity  to  reply  to  the  writers  whom  Hutchinson 
kept  at  work  in  the  Tory  sheets.  As  "  Candidus,"  he 
writes  June  10 :  "A  firm  and  manly  opposition  to  the 
attempts  that  have  been  made  and  are  still  making  to 
enslave  and  ruin  this  continent  has  always  been  branded 
by  writers  of  this  stamp  by  the  name  of  a  FACTION. 
Governor  Bernard  used  to  tell  his  Lordship  that  it  was 
an  *  eQypiring  faction ;  '  with  as  little  reason  it  is  now 
said  to  have  given  iqo  the  ghost :  Gladly  would  some, 
even  of  the  clergy,  persuade  this  people  to  be  at  ease  ; 
and  for  the  sake  of  peace  under  the  administration  of 
'  a  son  of  the  Province,'  to  acquiesce  in  unconstitutional 
revenue  acts,  arbitrary  ministerial  mandates,  and  abso- 
lute, despotic,  independent  governors,  etc.,  etc.  But  the 
time  is  not  yet  come  ;  and  I  am  satisfied  that,  iiotAvith- 
1  Works,  vol.  ii.,  p.  285. 


1771]  ROYAL  INSTRUCTIONS.  215 

standing  the  address  of  afewyAio  took  the  opportunltij 
to  carry  it  through,  while  only  the  small  number  of 
ticenty-four  were  /)?'ese?i^,  there  is  in  that  venerable 
order  a  great  majority  who  will  not  go  up  to  the  house 
of  Rimmon  or  bow  the  knee  to  Baal." 

The  revulsion  was  not  lono-  in  eomino-.  Before 
Hutchinson  had  had  time  to  restore  the  repentant  legis- 
lature to  the  town-house  in  Boston,  their  hearts  again 
became  hardened  against  him.  A  protest  came  forth 
bearing  all  of  Samuel  Adams's  well-known  marks,  in 
which  the  old  ground,  the  illegality  of  the  removal,  was 
reasserted ;  the  payment  of  a  salary,  too,  to  the  Gov- 
ernor, independent  of  the  legislative  provision,  was  dwelt 
upon  after  the  old  fashion.  The  strong  opposition  had 
been  beaten  down  by  the  sudden  rally.  The  protest  had 
a  saucier  ring  than  ever,  and  was  regarded  in  England, 
when  at  length  the  news  reached  there,  as  a  greater  in- 
sult than  had  at  any  time  been  offered.  The  most  was 
made  of  their  victory  by  the  Whigs.  By  the  end  of 
June,  the  resolution  of  the  pre\dous  year,  establishing 
the  Committee  of  Correspondence,  was  again  carried, 
with  Cushing,  Adams,  Otis,  Hancock,  and  Heath  as 
members.  The  first-fruits  of  the  Committee,  a  letter  to 
Franklin,  who  had  now  become  agent,  show  that  there 
Avas  no  quaihng  before  external  danger  or  internal 
defection.^ 

In  a  letter  of  this  time,  undated  and  undirected, 
Hutchinson  thus  characterizes  his  chief  adversary :  — 

"  I  doubt  whether  there  is  a  greater  incencUary  in  the 
King's  dominion  or  a  man  of  greater  malignity  of  heart, 

^  For  the  letter,  see  Wells  :  Samuel  Adams,  vol.  i.,  pp.  408,  409. 


216  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1771 

who  less  scruples  any  measure  ever  so  criminal  to  ac- 
complish his  purposes  ;  and  I  think  I  do  him  no  injustice 
when  I  suppose  he  wishes  the  destruction  of  every  friend 
to  government  in  America.  This  is  the  man  who  is  of 
the  committee  and  the  instar  omnium  with  which  the 
agent  corresponds  and  from  which  he  takes  his  direc- 
tions in  the  recess  of  the  Court.  The  doctrine  advanced 
in  these  letters  of  independence  upon  Parliament  and 
even  upon  the  King  to  whom  they  deny  the  right  of 
supporting  or  even  instructing  his  Governor,  must  rouse 
the  people  of  England  and  they  will  sooner  or  later 
express  their  indignation.  I  see  the  principle  spreading 
every  day,  and  the  silence  in  England  is  construed  to  be 
a  tacit  acknowledgment  or  acquiescence.  It  cannot,  as 
they  threaten,  be  expressly  acknowledged,  but  it  may, 
and  as  soon  as  we  [our  Whigs]  think  ourselves  strong 
enough,  will  be  openly  asserted  and  all  attemj)ts  to 
secure  our  dependence  openly  resisted."  ^ 

At  midsummer,  Hutchinson  informed  the  House  that 
in  obedience  to  instructions  from  the  King,  he  could 
not  give  his  consent  to  bills  levying  a  tax  upon  the 
incomes  of  Crown  officers,  an  instruction  unexpected 
and  apparently  not  approved  by  him.  In  his  History, 
he  states  the  position  of  the  Assembly  as  regards  royal 
instructions,  while  recording  his  dissent.^  "  The  safety 
of  the  people  requiring  that  every  power  should  have  a 
check,  therefore  it  was  ordained  by  the  charter,  that  the 
full  power  of  convening,  adjourning,  proroguing,  and 
dissolving,  should  be  in  a  Governor  residing  in  the  Prov- 
ince, and  supported  by  the  free  grants  of  the  people ; 

1  M.  A.  Hist,  vol.  XXV.,  p.  437.  2  Vol.  iii.,  pp.  342,  344. 


1771]  ROYAL  INSTRUCTIONS.  217 

and  the  King,  they  say,  covenanted  that  the  Governor 
shall  exercise  this  power,  ^  as  he  shall  think  fit,'  and 
not  another  :  therefore  an  endeavor,  meaning  the  in- 
struction from  the  King,  to  restrain  the  Governor  in 
the  exercise  of  this  power,  is  clearly  an  attempt  to 
infringe  and  violate  the  charter."  Samuel  Adams, 
writing  for  the  committee  of  which  he  was  a  member, 
denounced  the  position  of  Hutchinson,  in  refusing,  in 
obedience  to  the  King's  instructions,  to  sanction  the 
taxation  of  the  Crown  officers.^ 

"  The  reason  you  are  pleased  to  assign  for  withhold- 
ing your  assent  to  the  tax  bill  is  surprising  and  alarm- 
ing. We  know  of  no  Commissioners  of  his  Majesty's 
Customs  nor  of  any  revenue  his  Majesty  has  a  right  to 
establish  in  North  America ;  we  know  and  feel  a  trib- 
ute le^'ied  and  extorted  from  those  who,  if  they  have 
property,  have  a  right  to  the  absolute  disposal  of  it. 

"  By  the  royal  charter  it  is  expressly  granted  that  the 
General  Assembly  shall  have  full  power  and  authority 
to  impose  and  levy  proportionable  and  reasonable  assess- 
ments, rates,  and  taxes  upon  the  estates  and  persons  of 
all  and  every  the  proprietors  and  inhabitants  of  this 
Province.  Hence  it  plainly  appears  that  the  power  of 
raising  and  levying  taxes  is  vested  in  the  General 
Assembly ;  and  that  power  which  has  the  sole  right  of 
raising  and  levying  taxes  has  an  uncontrollable  right  to 
order  and  direct  in  what  way  and  manner,  and  upon 
whom,  such  taxes  shall  be  raised  and  levied.  There- 
fore for  your  Excellency  to  withhold  your  assent  to  this 
bill,  merely  by  force  of  instruction,  is  effectually  vacat- 

^  Bradford  :  Slate  Papers,  p.  307. 


218  THE  LIFE  OF   THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1771 

ing  the  charter,  and  giving  instructions  the  force  of 
laws  within  this  Province.  And  we  are  constrained  to 
say,  that  your  Excellency's  present  determination  is  to 
be  governed  by  them,  though  this  should  be  the  conse- 
quence. We  must  further  observe,  that  such  a  doctrine, 
if  established,  would  render  the  representatives  of  a  free 
people  mere  machines  ;  and  they  would  be  reduced  to 
this  fatal  alternative,  either  to  have  no  taxes  levied  and 
raised  at  [ill,  or  to  have  them  raised  and  levied  in  such 
way  and  manner  and  upon  those  only  whom  his  Majesty 
pleases. 

"  As  to  the  operation  of  law,  mentioned  in  your  Ex- 
cellency's message,  the  law  of  this  Province,  at  least  in 
this  respect,  has  rightly  operated  as  it  ever  ought  to. 
And  we  know  no  reason  nor  any  semblance  of  reason 
why  the  Commissioners,  their  superior  or  subordinate 
officers,  who  are  equally  protected  with  the  other  inhab- 
itants, should  be  exempted  from  paying  their  full  pro- 
portion of  taxes  for  the  support  of  government  within 
this  Province." 

The  session  came  to  a  close,  and  the  legislature, 
again  and  again  prorogued,  did  not  meet  again  until 
the  spring  of  1772.  In  sj^ite  of  the  rallying  of  the 
Whigs,  after  the  reactionary  proceedings  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  session  just  ended,  there  was  a  widesjDread 
disposition  to  make  some  compromise  with  government 
and  have  rest  from  controversy. 

A  scheme  which  Hillsboro  had  entertained  for 
chanofino;  the  Massachusetts  charter,  accordinsf  to 
susrsfestions  of  Bernard,  so  that  the  members  of  the 
Council  should  be  appointed  by  the  King,  was  post- 


1771]  ROYAL  INSTRUCTIONS.  219 

ponetl  on  account  of  a  threatened  war  with  Spain.  In 
August,  a  fleet  of  twelve  men-of-war,  under  Montagu, 
Rear-Admiral  of  the  Blue,  and  brother  of  the  Earl  of 
Sandwich,  a  noted  opponent  of  the  Colonial  claims,  cast 
anchor  in  Boston  harbor.  The  probable  war  with 
Spain  was  the  pretext  for  the  presence  of  the  unusual 
force,  but  no  one  doubted  that  an  effect  upon  the 
Province  was  also  desig-ned. 

Samuel  Adams  began  to  form  in  his  mind,  in  the  fall 
of  1771,  a  project  which  before  long  was  to  become 
very  famous.  In  the  light  of  events  which  are  to  fol- 
low, a  letter  written  to  Arthur  Lee  is  very  memorable. 

"  Boston,  Sept.  27,  1771. 

"  The  Grievances  of  Britain  and  the  Colonies,  as 
you  observe,  spring  from  the  same  root  of  Bitterness 
and  are  of  the  same  pernicious  Growth.  The  Union  of 
Britain  and  the  Colonys  is  therefore  by  all  means  to  be 
cultivated.  If  in  every  Colony  Societies  should  be 
formed  out  of  the  most  respectable  inhabitants  similar 
to  that  of  the  Bill  of  Rights,  who  should  once  in  the 
year  meet  by  their  Deputies  and  correspond  with  such 
a  society  in  London,  would  it  not  effectually  promote 
such  an  Union  ?  And  if  conducted  with  a  proper 
spirit,  would  it  not  afford  reason  for  the  Enemies  of 
our  common  liberty,  however  great,  to  tremble?  This 
is  a  sudden  Thought  and  drops  undigested  from  my 
pen.  It  would  be  an  arduous  Task  for  any  man  to  at- 
tempt to  awaken  a  sufficient  Number  in  the  Colonies  to 
so  grand  an  undertaking.  Notliing,  however,  should 
be  despaired  of ."  ^ 

^  Copied  from  the  autograph;  now  in  the  Lenox  Library,  New  York. 


220  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1771 

The  strife  over  the  receiving  by  the  government 
officers  of  stipends  independent  of  the  people  has 
begun,  and  is  soon  to  become  more  violent.  As  yet 
the  complete  denial  of  the  authority  of  Parliament  over 
the  Colonies  has  not  been  made  with  any  formality. 
In  the  days  of  the  Stamp  Act,  only  the  right  of  Parlia- 
ment to  tax  America  was  denied.  We  have  seen  Hawley 
soon  after  in  the  Assembly  advance  a  further  claim,  but 
in  an  incidental  way.  Franklin,  too,  as  we  know,  had 
taken  advanced  ground.  The  question  of  Parliamen- 
tary authority,  however,  was  about  to  receive  most  elab- 
orate discussion,  and  for  a  forerunner  to  the  controversy, 
Samuel  Adams  printed  in  the  "  Boston  Gazette "  for 
October  28,  1771,  a  carefully  studied  paper,  which  ex- 
hibits well  his  wide  reading  of  all  the  best  authorities, 
his  logical  power,  and  his  ability  in  calm  statement.^ 
Hutchinson  sent  the  paper  to  England  with  these  re- 
marks :  — 

"  You  may  depend  upon  it,  that  the  leaders  of  the 
people  are  in  earnest,  and  flatter  themselves  they  shall 
maintain  their  o-round  and  make  further  advances  until 
they  have  rejected  every  Act  of  Parliament  which  con- 
trols the  Colonies.  The  paper  which  I  enclose  to  you 
speaks  their  real  sentiments,  and  is  the  language  of  the 
Chief  Incendiary  of  the  House.  If  they  meet  with 
nothing  to  deter  them,  it  is  not  improbable  that  the 
next  session  may  obtain  a  vote  for  a  message  or  decla- 
ration in  the  very  terms  of  the  exceptionable  declara- 
tion in  the  paper." 

It  was  natural  that  he  should  write  at  this  time,  Octo- 

^  See  Wells  :  Samuel  Adams,  vol.  i.,  p.  427,  etc. 


1771]  ROYAL  INSTRUCTIONS.  221 

ber  9 :  "I  have  still  a  great  way  to  go  before  I  reach 
the  mark  and  attain  to  a  state  of  order  and  tranquillity. 
I  am  afraid  sometimes  that  such  a  state  is  not  attain- 
able. The  principles  of  the  continental  colonists  will 
not  admit  of  a  supreme  legislative  Parliament,  and  con- 
sequently the  King  and  his  ministers  will  never  concede 
to  a  colony  an  independent  legislature.  Whilst  the 
point  remains  in  dispute,  the  measures  of  administra- 
tion in  a  colony  will  continually  be  affected  by  it.  For 
some  time  past  the  correspondence  between  the  several 
Colonies  has  been  interrupted,  but  it  is  easily  revived. 
It  would  be  happy  for  the  kingdom  and  the  colonies  if 
every  province  was  a  distinct  island.  Sooner  or  later 
the  strength  of  the  whole  will  be  employed  to  effect 
what  they  call  an  emancipation."  ^  When  a  Town- 
Meetinof  at  the  end  of  October  beo-jred  that  the  Assem- 
bly  might  meet  December  2,  Hutchinson's  reply  was 
that  the  law  had  not  made  it  the  business  of  Town- 
Meetings  to  determine  when  the  Assembly  should  meet. 
Their  right  he  holds  to  rest  upon  a  Province  law, 
which  authorizes  them  "  when  there  shall  be  occasion 
for  them  for  any  business  of  public  concernment  to 
the  town  there  to  be  done."  ^  This  he  interprets  as 
confining  them  within  narrow  limits. 

In  a  lighter  vein  he  writes  from  Milton,  October 
31,  1771,  to  Gambler  :  ^  "  You  would  have  made  some 
humorous  remark  upon  the  company  if  you  had  been 
present  among  us  to-day.  About  one  half  had  been 
yesterday  at  a  turtle-feast  at  the  Peacock,  which  they 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.  2  Hist,  vol.  iii.,  p.  363. 

^  Afterwai-ds  a  well-kuowu  Admiral. 


222  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1771 

did  not  quit  until  between  three  and  four  this  morn- 
ing, in  a  high  storm  of  wind  and  rain.  Lady  WiUiam 
[Campbell]  ^  has  changed  in  one  evening  a  tolerably 
healthy  Nova  Scotia  countenance  for  the  pale,  sickly 
complexion  of  South  Carolina ;  Mrs.  Robinson  ^  her 
natural  cheerfulness  and  fluency  for  an  unusual  gravity 
and  taciturnity.  Poor  Paxton's  ^  usual  refreshing  nap 
after  dinner  was  turned  into  a  waking  coma,  more  in- 
sensible with  his  eyes  open  than  he  used  to  be  when 
they  were  shut.  In  fact,  there  was  no  need  of  any  dis- 
cernment to  ascertain  avIio  had  and  who  had  not  been  of 
the  party.  The  physicians.  Parsons  and  Tetlow,  may 
well  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  Peacock.  I  only 
wish,  instead  of  my  good  friends,  the  company  might 
consist  of  Otis,  Adams,  Cooper,  Hancock,  Molineux, 
and  half  a  hundred  more  of  the  same  sort." 

At  the  end  of  the  year  the  Tories  were  rubbing  their 
hands  over  the  dissensions  of  their  opponents.  Decem- 
ber 1, 1771,  to  Gage  :  "  The  pretended  patriotism  of  this 
Province  has  always  followed  the  example  of  those  who 
make  the  like  pretenses  in  England.  They  are  now 
quarrelling  among  themselves.  Hancock  has  declared 
he  will  never  a2:ain  connect  himself  with  Adams. 
They  both  have  their  partisans,  and  like  Wilkes  and 
Oliver,  they  both  declare  they  will  never  give  up  any 
part  of  the  cause  of  liberty.  I  hope,  however,  it  is  like 
the  faction  in  England ;  when  divided,  it  will  be  weak- 
ened.    It  will  be  easier  to  manage  them  when  the  bundle 

^  Wife  of  the  royal  governor  of  South  Carolina,  then  his  guest. 

2  Wife  of  the  Commissioner  of  Customs,  the  assailant  of  James  Otis. 

^  Commissioner  of  Customs. 


1771]  ROYAL  INSTRUCTIONS.  223 

is  broke  than  when  tied  together.  Otis  is  a  maniack, 
and  under  a  guardian  regularly  appointed."  ^ 

The  winter  of  1771-72  was  indeed  a  dark  time  in 
Massachusetts  as  regards  the  prospects  of  the  Whigs. 
A  powerful  fleet  was  anchored  in  the  harbor ;  the 
legislature  was  scattered ;  the  patriotic  strength  had 
no  opportunity  for  combined  action.  Samuel  Adams 
struggled  almost  alone  in  the  "  Boston  Gazette,"  against 
a  number  of  Tory  writers,  some  of  them  able,  and  all 
paid  and  inspired  by  the  energetic  Governor.  "  Cliro- 
nus,"  "  Probus,"  "Benevolus,"  and  "  Philanthrop,"  the 
latter  believed  then  to  be  Jonathan  Sewall,  attorney- 
general  of  the  Province,  were  vigorous  opponents  whom 
it  was  no  child's  play  to  encounter.  "ExcejDt  in  this 
town,"  wrote  Hutchinson  to  Hillsboro,  "  there  is  now 
a  general  appearance  of  contentment  throughout  the 
Province,  and  even  the  persons  who  have  made  the 
most  disturbance  have  become  of  less  importance.  A 
gentleman  who  had  assisted  them  much  by  his  money 
and  by  the  reputation  which  his  fortune  gives  him 
among  the  people,  seems  weary  of  them,  and  I  have 
reason  to  think  is  determined  to  leave  them.  The 
plain  dispassionate  pieces  in  our  newspapers  which  are 
now  published  with  freedom  and  dispersed  through  the 
Province,  have  done  great  service." 

Hancock's  defection,  at  this  time,  from  the  patriot 
cause  seemed  imminent  to  both  Tories  and  Whigs. 
When  Hutchinson  fled  to  England  three  years  later, 
and  his  papers  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  patriots,  it 
was  found  necessary  to  suppress  certain  documents  per- 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  258. 


224  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1772 

haps  belonging  to  this  time,  as  compromising  Hancock, 
who  in  1774  was  once  more  firmly  on  the  side  of  the 
Colonies.     To  quote  Hutchinson  again  :  — 

"  Hancock  and  Adams  are  at  great  variance.  Some 
of  my  friends  blow  the  coals,  and  I  hope  to  see  a  good 
effect.  They  follow  the  opposition  in  England  in  every- 
thing they  are  able  to  do.  I  compare  this  to  the  quar- 
rel between  Oliver  and  Wilkes.  Otis  was  carried  off 
to-day  in  a  post-chaise,  bound  hand  and  foot.  He  has 
been  as  good  as  his  word,  —  set  the  Province  in  a  flame, 
and  perished  in  the  attempt.  I  have  taken  much  pains 
to  procure  writers  to  answer  the  pieces  in  the  news- 
papers which  do  so  much  mischief  among  the  people, 
and  have  two  or  three  engaged  with  Draper,  besides  a 
new  press,  and  a  young  printer  who  says  he  will  not  be 
frightened,  and  I  hope  for  some  good  effect."  ^ 

Hutchinson  claims  that  Massachusetts  was  never  freer 
from  real  evils  than  in  the  beginning  of  1772.  From 
the  surpluses  of  former  funds  and  debts  due  govern- 
ment for  lands,  there  was  money  enough  for  public 
needs  for  some  time  to  come  without  taxes.  Commerce 
had  never  been  more  flourishino-.     While  the  Colonies 

o 

in  general  languished  under  the  curse  of  paper  money, 
Massachusetts  had,  through  Hutchinson's  beneficent 
work,  a  hard  currency.  Parliamentary  duties  had  been 
reduced,  until  molasses  and  tea  were  the  only  articles 
which  it  was  worth  while  to  smuo^s^le.  As  it  was,  tea 
cost  twice  as  much  in  England  as  in  America,  twelve- 
pence  export  duty  having  been  taken  off  in  England, 
while  only  threepence  import  duty  in  America  had  been 

1  To  Bernard,  Dec.  3,  1771. 


1772]  ROYAL  INSTRUCTIONS.  225 

imposed.  Prosperity  tended  to  mitigate  discontent,  and 
injure  the  plans  of  the  Whigs/ 

In  March,  1772,  the  second  anniversary  of  the  Mas- 
sacre was  celebrated,  Samuel  Adams  serving  on  the 
town's  committee  to  procure  an  orator.  John  Adams 
was  at  first  selected  ;  but  since  he  declined,  adhering 
to  his  determination  to  hold  aloof  from  public  life, 
Joseph  Warren  was  chosen,  who  received  great  ap- 
plause, raising  much  his  own  prestige  and  cheering  the 
hearts  of  the  patriots. 

The  unusual  interval  of  nine  months  had  passed  be- 
fore the  leo'islature  was  called  toofether  ajjain  on  the 
8tli  of  April.  Hancock,  Speaker  in  the  temporary 
absence  of  Gushing,  who  was  ill,  was  still  in  opposition 
to  Samuel  Adams,  and  exerted  his  influence  to  have 
the  rioht  of  the  Governor  recoo'nized  to  remove  the 
General  Court  to  any  place  in  obedience  to  instruc- 
tions from  the  ministry.  This  measure  Samuel  Adams 
barely  managed  to  defeat.  Bowdoin  in  the  Council 
also  contrived  to  procure  a  similar  vote.  Temperately 
but  firmly,  Samuel  Adams  addressed  the  Governor  for 
the  Assembly :  — 

"  We  are  still  firmly  of  the  opinion  that  such  instruc- 
tion is  repugnant  to  the  royal  charter.  .  .  .  Nothing  in 
the  charter  appears  to  us  to  afford  the  least  grounds  to 
conclude  that  a  right  is  reserved  to  his  Majesty  of  con- 
trolling the  Governor  in  thus  exercising  his  full  power. 
Nor,  indeed,  does  it  seem  reasonable  that  there  should  ; 
for  it  being  impossible  that  any  one,  at  the  distance  of 
three  thousand  miles,  should  be  able  to  foresee  the  most 

^  Hist.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  349,  etc. 


226  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1772 

convenient  time  or  place  of  holding  the  Assembly,  it  is 
necessary  that  such  discretionary  power  should  be  lodged 
with  the  Governor,  who  is  by  charter  constantly  to  re- 
side within  the  Province."  ^ 

Nothing  of  importance  was  done  during  the  session. 
The  enmity  of  Hancock  toward  Samuel  Adams  con- 
tinued, as  did  the  general  apathy  among  the  Whigs. 
Hutchinson  looked  forward  most  hopefully ;  while  his 
rival,  in  spite  of  discouragement,  was  active  as  ever, 
though  apparently  with  small  result.  In  the  election  of 
the  6th  of  May,  the  Tories  made  a  strong  effort  to  de- 
feat Samuel  Adams.  Of  the  700  votes  cast.  Gushing 
received  699,  and  Hancock  690,  which  showed  that 
their  disposition  to  temporize  (for  Gushing  was  at  this 
time  also  weak-kneed)  had  conciliated  the  Loyalists 
without  alienating  the  Whigs.  Phillips,  the  third  can- 
didate, received  6S8  votes,  and  Samuel  Adams  505. 
The  majority,  largely  due  to  the  influence  of  the 
North  End  Gaucus,  was  indeed  sufficient.  The  patriots 
were,  however,  alarmed,  and  took  such  measures  that 
the  Tories  soon  saw  they  had  only  brought  harm  upon 
themselves  by  their  course.  "  It  caused,"  said  Hutch- 
inson, "  a  more  vigorous  exertion,  and  no  endeavors 
were  spared  to  heal  all  breaches  in  the  opposition  and 
to  ofuard  ascainst  a  renewal  of  them." 

When  the  Gourt  met.  May  27,  the  number  in  at- 
tendance was  unusually  small,  and  twenty-three  towns 
were  fined  for  neglecting  to  send  Representatives.  Han- 
cock and  Gushing  waited  upon  the  Governor  before  the 
session  began,  "  to  inquire  upon  what  terms  I  would 

1  Bradford  :  State  Papers,  p.  315. 


1772]  ROYAL  INSTRUCTIONS.  227 

consent  to  their  returnino-  to  Boston.  I  let  them  know 
that  if  there  was  anything  in  then*  address  or  message 
which  tended  to  a  denial  of  the  King's  authority  to 
give  instructions  to  the  Governor,  I  would  not  consent 
to  it.  .  .  .  They  encouraged  me  they  would  comply 
with  my  proposal  if  Mr.  Adams  did  not  prevent  it, 
against  whose  art  and  insidiousness  I  cautioned  them." 
Mr.  Adams,  however,  did  prevent  it.  The  House  main- 
tained the  position  from  which  it  had  been  driven  only 
for  a  moment,  under  the  influence  of  James  Otis,  the 
preceding  year,  and  Hutchinson  felt  the  struggle  was 
useless.  Adams  and  Hancock  became  reconciled,  the 
former  magnanimously  striving  to  palliate  the  incon- 
sistency of  his  colleague ;  and  as  a  first  sign  of  the 
restored  friendship  of  the  two  men,  Hancock  refused 
the  position  of  Councilor  for  which  the  Governor  had 
approved  him,  preferring  to  remain  in  the  House. 

Since  the  House  flatly  refused  to  proceed  to  business 
in  any  other  place  than  the  town-house  in  Boston, 
Hutchinson  at  last  yielded.  For  four  years  the  strug- 
gle had  been  maintained,  much  of  the  time  ahnost 
solely  by  Samuel  Adams.  The  insistence  upon  the  point 
produced  a  profound  effect  upon  public  opinion,  though 
in  history  its  importance  has  not  been  appreciated. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE    COMMITTEE    OF    CORRESPONDENCE. 

Again  in  the  town-house  in  Boston,  the  legislature 
turned  almost  at  once  to  the  matter  of  the  Governor's 
salary,  which  Hutchinson  now  plainly  announced  he 
should  receive  from  the  King.  The  House  protested 
in  its  usual  temper,  the  set  of  the  opposition  being  so 
powerful  that  several  of  the  Loyalists  withdrew  dis- 
heartened. A  sullen  refusal  to  repair  the  neglected 
Province  House,  which  was  falling  into  dilapidation, 
followed,  and  Hutchinson,  after  a  vigorous  reply  to  the 
Assembly's  manifesto,  prorogued  the  Court  to  Sep- 
tember. During  the  summer  Hillsboro  gave  place  to 
the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  in  the  Secretaryship  for  the 
Colonies,  declaring  to  the  Lords  of  Trade,  as  he  laid 
down  his  office,  that  provision  had  been  made  by  the 
King  for  the  support  of  the  Massachusetts  Crown  of- 
ficials. When  it  became  known  that  the  decision  had 
been  taken,  and  that  warrants  for  the  payments  had 
been  drawn  on  the  Commissioners  of  Customs,  the  wrath 
of  the  people  became  heavy,  the  voice  of  Samuel  Ad- 
ams, as  usual,  leading  the  discontent,  as  he  muttered  in 
the  columns  of  the  "  Boston  Gazette."  What  Hutch- 
inson's frame  of  mind  during  this  year  w^as,  we  shall 
learn  from  the  "  Letter  Book." 

Writing,  February   1-i,  to  John  Hales  Hutchinson, 


1772]        THE   COMMITTEE   OF  CORRESPONDENCE.  229 

perhaps  a  distant  relative,  who  lived  at  Palmerston, 
near  Dublin,  in  Ireland,  he  says :  "  Lord  Hillsboro  ac- 
quainted me  with  his  Majesty's  determination  to  allow 
his  Governor  .£1500  sterling,  to  be  paid  annually  out 
of  the  revenue,  instead  of  the  £1000  for  which  he  used 
to  be  dependent  on  the  people.  ...  Is  not  an  unwar- 
rantable desire  of  independence  at  the  bottom  of  all 
the  discontent  both  in  Ireland  and  in  the  Colonies  ? 
In  a  government  which  has  anything  popular  in  its 
form  or  constitution,  the  remote  parts  will  grow  more 
dissatisfied  Avith  any  unfavorable  distinctions  in  propor- 
tion as  those  parts  increase  and  become  considerable. 
A  doubt  or  scruple  in  the  supreme  authority  of  its  abso- 
lute, uncontrollable  power,  and  a  relaxation  in  conse- 
quence, will  increase  the  dissatisfaction  and  endanger  a 
disunion  or  total  separation.  The  words  of  Mr.  Pitt, 
when  he  said,  ^  I  am  glad  America  has  resisted,'  gave 
a  deeper  wound  to  the  peace  of  America  than  all  the 
tumultuous  resolves  and  rebellious  acts  which  preceded 
them.  For  thirty  years  before  that  I  had  been  con- 
cerned in  government,  and  never  knew  the  authority  of 
an  Act  of  Parliament  called  in  question.  All  which 
had  any  respect  to  us  were  printed  immediately  and 
made  a  part  of  our  code.  Since  that  time  the  members 
of  the  Assembly  grumble  and  mutter,  and  ask  by  what 
authority  Acts  of  Parliament  are  mixed  with  our  Pro- 
vincial laws  ;  and  the  House  of  Representatives  have 
repeatedly  resolved  that  it  is  unconstitutional  for  the 
people  to  be  governed  by  laws  made  by  any  power  in 
which  they  are  not  represented.  ...  It  is  not  likely 
that  the  American   Colonies   will   remain  part  of  the 


230  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1772 

dominion  of  Great  Britain  another  century ;  but  while 
they  do  remain,  I  cannot  conceive  of  any  line  to  be 
drawn.  The  supreme  absolute  power  must  remain  en- 
tire, to  be  exercised  over  the  Colonies  so  far  as  is  neces- 
sary for  the  maintenance  of  its  own  authority  and  the 
general  weal  of  the  whole  empire,  and  no  farther.  In 
the  27th  and  29th  books  of  Livy  we  find  an  instance 
of  refractoriness  in  the  Roman  colonies  not  altogether 
unlike  to  that  of  the  British  colonies,  and  of  the  spir- 
ited and  successful  doings  of  the  Roman  senate  upon 
that  occasion.  I  have  often  wondered  that  in  all  the 
publications  in  the  late  controversy,  no  notice  has  been 
taken  of  so  pertinent  a  piece  of  history.  ...  So  far 
the  family  has  done  worthily.  I  hope,  therefore,  and  I 
think  I  shall  demonstrate  that  the  information  you  had 
of  our  relation  to  the  reoicide  was  not  well  founded. 
It  is  certain  neither  of  us  are  descended  from  him."  ^ 

In  the  spring  he  received,  in  the  midst  of  the  fault- 
finding of  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  a  mark  of  confidence 
from  the  General  Court  at  which  he  was  greatly  pleased, 
as  he  had  a  right  to  be.  The  boundary  of  Massachusetts 
on  the  side  of  New  York,  not  settled  in  1767  and  still 
in  dispute,  it  became  very  necessary  to  adjust,  and  no 
one  but  Hutchinson  could  be  trusted  to  do  it.  April 
27,  1772,  he  writes  to  Hillsboro :  — 

"  After  all  the  illiberal  treatment  I  have  received  for 
so  many  years  together,  this  is  a  greater  mark  of  real 
confidence  than  I  have  known  any  Assembly  to  place  in 
a  Governor.     I  have  made  no  concessions  to  occasion 

^  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  296.     Quoted  in  Almon's  Remembrancer, 
1777,  pp.  110,  111. 


1772]        THE  COMMITTEE  OF  CORRESPONDENCE.  231 

it.  .  .  .  They  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  make  any 
addition  to  the  salaries  of  the  judges  of  the  Superior 
Court,  and  I  think  there  is  no  room  to  hope  that  any 
Assembly  will  give  what  is  adequate  to  their  service." 
The  settlement  of  the  boundary  was  adjourned  till  the 
year  following. 

The  Boston  Town  -  Meeting  is  thus  set  forth. 
March  29,  1772,  he  incloses  to  Hillsboro  certain  pro- 
ceedings, accompanying  instructions  to  Representatives, 
"  which  however  criminal  are  looked  upon  as  matter  of 
course,  the  meetings  of  that  town  being  constituted 
of  the  lowest  class  of  the  people  under  the  influence 
of  a  few  of  a  higher  class,  but  of  intemperate  and 
furious  dispositions  and  of  desperate  fortunes.  Men  of 
property  and  of  the  best  character  have  deserted  these 
meetings,  where  they  are  siu-e  of  being  affronted.  By 
the  constitution  <£40  sterling,  which  they  say  may  be 
in  cloaths,  household  furniture  or  any  sort  of  property, 
is  a  qualification  ;  and  even  with  that  there  is  scarce 
ever  any  inquiry,  and  anything  with  the  appearance  of 
a  man  is  admitted  without  scrutiny." 

June  22,  1772,  to  Governor  Pownal  :  "  If  you  was 
now  in  America  you  would  be  sick  of  it  in  a  week  and 
leave  it.  Ten  years  ago  they  had  some  notion  of  gov- 
ernment. They  have  none  now.  Can  anything  be  more 
absurd  than  for  the  representatives  of  a  people  to 
admit  the  prerogative  of  the  Crown,  and  yet  to  declare 
that  all  power  is  to  be  exercised  for  the  good  of  the 
people,  and  they  are  to  judge  when  it  is  so  exercised, 
and  to  submit  accordingly !  What  they  hold  in  theory 
they  have  not  yet  been  able  to  carry  into  practice,  and 


232  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSOX.  [1772 

I  hope  never  will.  .  .  .  Indeed,  I  never  bad  an  in- 
strnction  but  wbat  appeared  to  me  consonant  witb  tbe 
cbarter.  I  ratber  tbink  we  do  not  differ  mucb  as  to 
tbe  affair  of  tbe  Castle,  and  tbat  you  bave  been  mis- 
informed as  to  facts.  Tbe  Castle  remains  under  tbe 
Governor,  and  did.  Tbe  stores  are  as  absolutely  under 
my  direction  as  ever,  and  all  tbe  apartments  and  build- 
ings. Tbe  garrison  would  immediately  remove  if  I 
sbould  give  orders  for  it."  ^ 

As  to  tbe  case  of  tbe  Gaspee,  tbe  Britisb  man-of-war 
wbicb  excited  tbe  rage  of  tbe  people  about  Narragan- 
sett  Bay  by  its  effective  interference  witb  smuggling, 
and  wbicb  was  at  lengtb  burned  wbile  aground  by  a 
party  from  Providence,  sucb  an  expression  is  to  be  ex- 
pected as  tbe  following  :  — 

June  30,  1772,  to  Gambier :  "  I  bope  if  tbere 
sbould  be  anotber  like  attempt,  some  concerned  in  it 
may  be  taken  prisoners  and  carried  direct  to  England. 
A  few  punisbed  at  Execution  Dock  would  be  tbe  only 
effectual  preventive  of  any  furtber  attempts.  In  every 
Colony  tbey  are  sure  of  escaping  witb  impunity.  .  .  . 
I  bave  brougbt  tbe  Assembly  to  sucb  a  state  tbat 
tbougb  tbere  are  a  small  majority  sour  enougb,  yet 
wben  tbey  seek  matter  for  protests,  remonstrances,  etc., 
tbey  are  puzzled  wbere  to  cbarge  tbe  grievances  wbicb 
tbey  look  for,  in  tbe  first  place  ;  and  tben  consider 
wbetber  [wbat]  tbey  complain  of  are  grievances  or  not. 
Under  sucb  circumstances,  and  tbe  advantage  of  baving 
tbem  in  tbe  town  of  Boston,  wbere  I  can  see  a  company 
of  tbem  every  day,  wbicb  by  tbe  way,  you  would  tbink 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  346. 


1772]        THE  COMMITTEE   OF  CORRESPONDENCE.  233 

to  be  clearly  earning  your  salary,  I  hope  to  pass  through 
a  session  without  much  trouble.     Some  foolish  thinor  or 

o 

other  from  such  people  is  always  of  course."  ^ 

He  advises  strenuous  measures. 

August  23,  1772 :  "  A  declaratory  Act  of  Parliament 
signifies  nothing.  What  objection  can  there  be  to  a 
penalty  upon  the  denial  of  the  authority  of  Parliament, 
and  when  done  by  any  Assemblies  or  bodies  of  politi- 
cians in  any  part  of  the  King's  British  dominions,  why 
should  not  all  subsequent  j)roceedings  of  such  Assem- 
blies or  bodies  political  be  declared  to  be  mere  nullities  ? 
Or  if  this  be  inexpedient,  can  no  other  way  be  found  to 
punish  this  offence  ?  " 

August  25,  1772 :  "  If  copies  of  private  letters  can 
be  obtained  we  are  never  safe."  ^ 

A  good  head  and  heart  speaks  out  of  the  following 
words :  — 

August  27,  1772,  probably  to  Mauduit :  "When 
I  was  young,  at  college  or  soon  after,  I  read  with  atten-' 
tion  what  Mr.  Locke  had  wrote  upon  toleration.  I  was 
astonished  that  ever  anybody  who  thought  at  all,  should 
have  thought  differently  upon  the  subject ;  and  yet  all 
the  world  until  then  easily  received  the  absurdities  of 
the  contrary  doctrine.  My  poor  ancestors,  of  my  coun- 
try I  mean,  and  not  of  my  family,  I  look  back  upon- 
with  pity,  —  in  their  intolerant  spirit,  which  was  the 
more  inexcusable  because  they  were  at  the  same  time 
vehemently  inveighing  against  the  same  spirit  in  others. 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  354.     Quoted  in  Almon's  Remembrancer, 
1776,  Pt.  II.,  p.  57. 

2  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  373,  etc. 


234  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1772 

I  am  not  sure  that  if  we  were  unrestrained,  we  have  not 
a  majority  of  the  same  spirit  at  this  day.  It 's  certain 
we  have  but  little  Catholicism  among  the  laity ;  and  the 
clergy  in  general,  of  every  denomination,  are  bigots. 
My  education  has  been  among  the  Congregationalists, 
and  I  generally  attend  the  publick  worship  with  them. 
...  As  I  have  no  scruples  I  frequently  attend  at  the 
King's  Chapel.  Considering  the  commission  I  sustain, 
I  think  there  is  a  decency  and  propriety  in  my  so  doing ; 
and  although  I  cannot  approve  of  the  good  bishop's 
reason  for  not  allowing  toleration  in  England,  yet  I 
have  no  objection  to  a  bishop  upon  the  proposed  plan 
in  America.  I  think  the  inhabitants  of  the  Episcopal 
persuasion  have  a  right  to  it.  It 's  a  degree  of  intoler- 
ance to  oppose  it."  ^ 

November  7,  1772,  to  Governor  Wentworth,  of  New 
Hampshire :  "  It 's  happy  for  the  King's  servants  in 
the  Colonies  that  Lord  Hillsboro  is  succeeded  by  a 
nobleman  of  so  amiable  a  character  as  that  of  Lord 
Dartmouth.^  If  God  should  raise  up  a  Moses,  or  in- 
spire any  person  now  living  with  the  same  spirit,  and 
give  evidence  of  the  same  authority,  I  think  it  would 
have  no  effect  on  our  Sons  of  Liberty,  nor  upon  the 
rest  of  the  sons  of  Levi  .  .  .  who  are  as  much  dis- 
posed to  rebellion  as  Korah  and  his  company  of  old."^ 

^  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  377. 

^  Richardson,  the  novelist,  said  that  Dartmouth  might  have  been  the 
original  of  Sir  Charles  Grandison,  except  that  he  was  a  Methodist. 
Cowper,  too,  celebrated  his  piety.  Dartmouth  was  indeed  a  man  of  much 
good  sense,  and  of  far  higher  character  than  most  of  the  society  in  which 
he  moved. 

2  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  404. 


1772]        THE  COMMITTEE  OF  CORRESPONDENCE.  235 

At  the  close  of  the  year  come  references  to  a  matter 
of  great  importance  in  the  development  of  the  strug- 
gle, which  even  the  Governor,  with  all  his  astuteness, 
at  first  entirely  misappreciated. 

November  13,  1772,  to  Secretary  Pownul  :  "  The 
restless  faction  in  this  town  have  pleased  themselves 
with  hopes  of  fresh  disturbances  from  the  salaries  pro- 
posed for  the  judges  of  the  Superior  Court.  The  usual 
first  step  has  been  taken,  a  Town-Meeting.  Hitherto 
they  have  fallen  much  short  of  their  expectation,  and 
even  in  this  town  have  not  been  able  to  revive  the  old 
plan  of  mobbing ;  and  the  only  dependence  left  is  to 
keep  up  a  correspondence  through  the  Province  by 
committees  of  the  several  towns,  which  is  such  a  fool- 
ish scheme  that  they  must  necessarily  make  themselves 
ridiculous."  ^ 

December  8,  he  writes  again  :  "  I  send  you  the  votes 
and  proceedings  of  the  town.  The  first  part  is  Otis,  the 
second  Adams,  and  the  third  Dr.  Young.  Their  plan  is 
to  bring  as  many  towns  as  they  can  to  adoj^t  their  re- 
solves, and  to  keep  up  a  correspondence  by  committees. 
They  are  vexed  at  the  contempt  I  treat  them  with."  ^ 

Thus  the  Governor  refers  to  what  turned  out  to  be 
the  beginning  of  the  end, — the  formation  of  the  Bos- 
ton Committee  of  Correspondence,  the  significance  of 
which  neither  he  nor  any  one,  except  its  institutor, 
Samuel  Adams,  at  first  penetrated,  but  the  direct  out- 
come of  which  was  the  United  States. 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  412.  Quoted  in  Proceedings  of  Mass.  Hist. 
Soc,  vol.  xix.,  pp.  139,  140,  dated,  however,  Nov.  10. 

2  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  426. 


236  THE  LIFE   OF  THOIklAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1772 

How  Samuel  Adams  brouglit  into  being  the  Boston 
Committee  of  Correspondence,  probably  the  most  im- 
portant achievement  of  his  career,  the  present  writer 
has  narrated  elsewhere.^  He  had  not  only  to  thwart  the 
Tories,  but  to  arouse  and  control  the  Whigs,  whose 
leaders,  with  scarcely  an  exception,  saw  no  promise  in 
the  scheme.  Hutchinson  having  been  petitioned  by 
Boston  not  to  prorogue  the  General  Court,  appointed  to 
meet  December  2,  took  exception  to  the  procedure  as 
interf  erino"  with  a  matter  "  which  the  law  had  not  made 
the  business  of  Town-Meetings."  The  town,  protesting 
their  right  to  petition,  indignantly  voted  the  Governor's 
reply  "  not  satisfactory  ;  "  whereupon  the  great  man- 
ager, riding  the  wave  as  he  always  knew  how  to  do, 
moved  the  establishment  of  the  famous  committee  to 
state  the  riofhts  of  the  Colonists,  and  to  communicate 
the  ideas  of  the  town  "  to  the  several  towns  and  to  the 
world,"  and  solicit  replies.  Samuel  Adams  himself, 
Warren,  and  Church  forthwith  prepared  and  spread 
abroad  the  statement,  which  in  a  few  days  brought  re- 
plies from  important  towns,  evidently  heralds  of  an 
almost  unanimous  expression. 

To  quote  from  what  the  present  writer  has  elsewhere 
said :  — 

"In  the  last  days  of  1772,  the  document,  having  been 
printed,  was  transmitted  to  those  for  whom  it  had  been 
intended,  producing  at  once  an  immense  effect.  The 
towns  almost  unanimously  appointed  similar  commit- 
tees ;  from  every  quarter  came  replies  in  which  the  sen- 
timents of  Samuel  Adams  were  echoed.     In  the  library 

^  Life  of  Samuel  Adams,  ch.  xiii. 


1772]        THE  COMMITTEE  OF  CORRESPONDENCE.  237 

o£  Bancroft  is  a  volume  o£  manuscripts/  worn  and 
stained  by  time,  which  have  an  interest  scarcely  inferior 
to  that  possessed  by  the  "  Declaration  of  Independence  " 
itself,  as  the  fading  page  hangs  against  its  pillar  in  the 
Hbrary  of  the  State  Dej^artment  at  Washington.  They 
are  the  original  replies  sent  by  the  Massachusetts  towns 
to  Samuel  Adams's  Committee  sittin«-  in  Faneuil  Hall, 
during  those  first  months  of  1773.  One  may  well  read 
them  with  bated  breath,  for  it  is  the  touch  of  the  elbow 
as  the  stout  little  democracies  dress  up  into  line,  just 
before  they  plunge  in  at  Concord  and  Bunker  Hill. 
There  is  sometimes  a  noble  scorn  of  the  restraints  of 
orthography,  as  of  the  despotism  of  Great  Britain,  in 
the  Avork  of  the  old  town  clerks,  for  they  generally  were 
secretaries  of  the  committees  ;  and  once  in  a  while  a 
touch  of  Dogberry's  quaintness,  as  the  punctilious 
officials,  though  not  always  "  putting  God  first,"  yet 
take  pains  that  there  shall  be  no  mistake  as  to  their 
piety,  by  making  every  letter  in  the  name  of  the  Deity 
a  rounded  capital ;  yet  the  documents  ought  to  inspire 
the  deepest  reverence.  It  is  the  highest  mark  the 
Town-Meeting  has  ever  touched.  Never  before  and 
never  since  have  Anglo-Saxon  men,  in  lawful  Follvmote 
assembled,  given  utterance  to  thoughts  and  feelings  so 
fine  in  themselves  and  so  pregnant  with  great  events. 
To  each  letter  stand  affixed  the  names  of  the  committee 
in  autograph.  This  awkward  scrawl  was  made  by  the 
rough  fist  of  a  Cape  Ann  fisherman,  on  shore  for  the 
day  to  do  at  Town-Meeting  the  duty  his  fellows  had  laid 
upon  him ;  the  hand  that  wrote  this  was  cramped  from 

^  They  are  now  in  the  Lenox  Library,  New  York. 


238  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1772 

the  scythe-handle,  as  its  possessor  mowed  an  intervale 
on  the  Connecticut ;  this  blotted  signature  where  smut- 
ted fingers  have  left  a  black  stain  was  written  by  a 
blacksmith  of  Middlesex,  turning  aside  a  moment  from 
forging  a  barrel  that  was  to  do  duty  at  Lexington. 
They  were  men  of  the  plainest ;  but  as  the  documents, 
containing  statements  of  the  most  generous  j^rincijDles 
and  the  most  courageous  determination,  were  read  in 
the  town-houses,  the  committees  who  produced  them 
and  the  constituents  for  whom  the  committees  stood 
were  lifted  above  the  ordinary  level.  Their  horizon 
expanded  to  the  broadest ;  they  had  in  view  not  sim- 
jjly  themselves,  but  the  welfare  of  the  continent ;  not 
solely  their  own  generation,  but  remote  posterity.  It 
was  Samuel  Adams's  own  plan,  the  consequences  of 
which  no  one  foresaw,  neither  friend  nor  foe.  Even 
Hutchinson,  who  was  scarcely  less  keen  than  Samuel 
Adams  himself,  was  completely  at  fault.  "  Such  a  fool- 
ish scheme,"  he  wrote,  "that  the  faction  must  neces- 
sarily make  themselves  ridiculous."  But  in  January 
the  eyes  of  men  were  opening.  One  of  the  ablest  of 
the  Tories  wrote :  ^  "  This  is  the  foulest,  subtlest,  and 
most  venomous  serpent  ever  issued  from  the  egg  of 
sedition.  I  saw  the  small  seed  when  it  was  implanted; 
it  was  a  grain  of  mustard.  I  have  watched  the  plant 
until  it  has  become  a  great  tree."  It  was  the  transfor- 
mation into  a  strong  cord  of  what  had  been  a  rope  of 
sand. 

As  an   illustration  of  the  invigoration   of  patriotic 
sentiment  which  at  once  appeared  in  all  the  Massachu- 

^  Daniel  Leonard. 


1772]        THE   COMMITTEE  OF  CORRESPONDENCE.  239 

setts  towns,  the  following  "  instructions "  are  given, 
drawn  up  by  Concord  for  its  Representative,  Captain 
James  Barrett,  the  veteran  of  the  old  French  War  who 
afterward  commanded  the  Minute-men  on  the  lOtli  of 
April,  1775/  The  document  is  taken  here  from  the 
handwriting-  of  the  town  clerk,  except  the  signatures, 
which  stand  at  the  end  in  the  original  as  autographs  of 
the  committee. 

"  concord  :    instruction  for  the   representative. 

"  Capn  James  Barrett  : 

"  Sir,  —  We  his  Majesty's  most  Dutif ull  and  Loyal 
Subjects  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Town  of  Concord,  in 
Town-Meeting  assembled  this  Eleventh  Day  of  January 
1773  after  Expressing  our  most  firm  attatchment  to  and 
ardent  Love  for  our  most  Gracious  Soverand  Kino^ 
George,  in  the  support  of  whose  Person  and  Dignity 
we  are  always  ready  not  only  to  Spend  our  fortunes 
but  Lives  (while  we  are  in  the  Enjoyment  of  our  in- 
valuable Priviliges  Granted  us  by  Royal  Charter)  But 
Cannot  in  this  time  of  General  Concern  throughout  the 
Province  Do  otherwise  than  Express  our  Sentiments 
that  Some  of  our  invaluable  Privilioes  are  Infringfed 
upon  by  those  heavy  Burdens  unconstitutionally  as  we 
think  already  Laid  upon  us  that  by  some  Late  Laws 
and  Innovations  other  if  our  Liberties  and  Privilisfes 
Equally  Dear  are  in  Danger  of  being  effected  and  Cur- 
tailed —  for  as  a  Report  has  of  Late  Prevailed  that  the 
Justices  of  the  Superiour  Court  of  this  Pro\ance  have 

^  His  great-great-grandson  feels  a  pious  satisfaction  in  setting  upon  his 
page  the  name  of  this  ancient  worthy. 


240  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1772 

Salaries  apjiointed  them  from  the  Crown,  thereby  Ren- 
dering them  more  Dependent  on  the  Crown  than  we 
think  any  Judge  ought  to  be  on  Crown  or  People, 
Whereby  a  foundation  is  laid  for  our  Courts  of  Justice 
which  always  Should  be  Uninfluenced  by  any  force  but 
that  of  Law,  being  too  Immediately  under  the  influence 
of  the  Crown  —  and  whereas  an  act  was  Passed  During 
the  Last  Sessions  of  the  British  Parliament,  Entitled  an 
act  for  the  better  Preserving  his  Majesty's  Dockyards, 
Magazines,  Ships,  ammunitions  and  stores  by  which 
act  we  in  this  Country  are  Exposed  to  the  Rage  of 
Some  Malicious  Person  who  out  of  Complasance  to  Some 
Court  Sycophant  may  accuse  any  Person  and  thereby 
Cause  him  to  be  Hurried  out  of  his  native  country,  where 
he  ouo'ht  to  be  Judsred  and  Carried  to  Some  Distant 
Place  thereby  Deprived  of  all  his  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances and  advantage  of  his  Common  Character,  to  be 
Judged  by  Strangers  and  Perhaps  by  Foreigners,  and 
whether  Innocent  or  Guilty  is  in  Danger  of  being  Ruined 
in  Person  and  Estate,  which  we  Look  upon  as  a  great  In- 
fringement on  our  Rights  and  Privileges  and  Contrary 
to  the  true  Sense  of  Magna  Charta  and  Spirit  of  Law. 

"  We  think  it  therefore  Proper  at  Such  a  time  as  this, 
to  Instruct  you,  our  Representative  in  General  Assem- 
bly of  this  Province,  that  you  in  a  Constitutional  man- 
ner Endeavor  to  Prevent  those  Innovations  we  too 
sencebly  feel  and  those  we  fear,  by  using  your  influence 
in  the  General  Assembly  in  their  Present  Session  for 
an  humble  Remonstrance  to  his  Majesty,  that  all  those 
Violations  and  Privileges  which  we  are  justly  entitled 
to  by  the  British  Constitution  and  made  over  to  us  and 


1772]        THE   COMMITTEE  OF  CORRESPONDENCE.  241 

our  successors  by  the  Royal  Charter,  might  be  Re- 
dressed, and  also  we  further  advise  you,  to  use  your 
best  Endeavours  that  an  Honorable  and  adequate  Sup- 
port be  Granted  to  the  Justices  of  the  Superior  Court 
as  a  recompence  for  their  Important  Services  in  their 
Exalted  Station  —  Relying  on  your  Loyalty  &  Respect 
for  his  Sacred  Majesty,  your  Love  and  affection  for 
your  Country,  we  trust  that  you  will  in  all  matters  that 
may  come  before  you.  Conduct  with  that  Wisdom  and 
Prudence,  that  Integrity  and  Coolness,  that  Circumspec- 
tion and  Firmness  which  So  well  Become  the  Senator 
and  Patriot. 

"Joseph  Lee, 

Charles  Prescott, 

John  Cuming, 

Daniel  Bliss, 

Thos  Barrett, 

Stephen  Hosmer, 

John  Flint, 

Ephraim  Wood  Jr 

"The  above  Report  Being  Read  in  Town-Meeting 
Several  Times,  then  the  Vote  was  Called  for  to  Know 
whether  Town  would  accept  of  the  Same  and  it  Passed 
in  the  affirmative  unanimously  in  a  full  Town-Meeting. 

"  A  true  Coppy  att'  Ephraim  Wood  Jr. 

Toicn  Clerk. 
"  Concord  Jany  y"  18'"  1773." 

To  Lord  Dartmouth,  the  new  Secretary,  Hutchinson 
writes  somewhat  at  length  as  to  the  situation. 

December  13,  1772  :  "  I  have  repeatedly  suggested 


>  Committee. 


242  THE   LIFE   OF   THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1772 

tliat  nothing  short  of  the  power  of  Parliament  would 
provide  a  cure  for  the  distempers  of  the  Colonies,  and 
that  I  had  no  doubt  of  the  sufficiency  of  that  power, 
and  until  the  proposal  for  taxing  the  Colonies  by  the 
Stamp  Act  nobody  had  ever  questioned  the  supreme 
authority  of  Parliament  in  all  cases.  When  the  Vir- 
ginia Resolves  first  appeared,  it  was  so  bold  a  stroke 
that  even  the  Sons  of  Liberty  with  us  pronounced  them 
treasonable.  However,  we  raised  our  notes  immedi- 
ately, but  we  waited  until  we  heard  how  little  notice 
was  taken  of  them  in  England  before  we  ran  to  their 
pitch.  When  it  was  advanced  in  both  Houses  of  Par- 
liament that  we  could  not  be  taxed  whilst  we  had  no 
representative  in  Parliament,  we  embraced  the  doctrine 
with  rapture,  and  the  joy  was  rather  increased  than 
lessened  by  a  new  declaratory  act  to  the  contrary  with- 
out any  provision  for  enforcing  it.  You  expected  in 
England  that  time  would  cause  truth  to  prevail,  but 
error  has  been  strengthening  itself  every  day.  A  pas- 
sion for  independence  which  must  be  our  ruin  will  not 
suffer  us  to  discover  the  absurdity  of  two  suj)reme 
powers  in  one  state ;  for  we  are  not  wilUng  to  go  so 
far  as  to  admit  of  such  a  separation  between  the  king- 
dom and  colonies  as  will  make  them  distinct  and  differ- 
ent states.  Now  if  we  can  be  brouo-lit  to  renounce 
these  absurdities,  we  shall  return  to  the  state  we  were 
in  before  the  Stamp  Act,  and  ParHament  can  and  will 
sooner  or  later  compel  us  to  it.  When  this  is  done 
it  will  appear  to  be  the  mutual  interest  of  Kingdom 
and  Colonies  that  this  supreme  authority  should  be 
exercised  as  seldom  as  it  used  to  be  before  the  Stamp 


1773]        THE   COMMITTEE   OF  CORRESPONDENCE.  243 

Act,  and  upon  commercial  views  only,  which  until  of 
late  we  have  thought  reasonable  to  submit  to ;  but  if 
we  are  let  alone  a  little  longer,  we  shall  think  any 
restraint  in  our  trade  to  be  as  grievous  as  raising  a 
revenue  by  internal  tax.^  I  have  not  been  forward  in 
proposing  measures  for  restoring  us  to  a  state  of  order. 
I  have  repeatedly  suggested  that  no  power  less  than 
Parliament  could  effect  it,  but  the  w^ay  and  manner  in 
which  Parliament  was  to  proceed,  it  did  not  become  me 
to  suggest.  I  can  say  nothing  concerning  the  prin- 
ciples or  the  temper  of  the  Americans  which  wiU  be 
new  to  you.  A  right  to  independence  upon  the  British 
ParHament  is  more  and  more  asserted  every  day,  and 
the  longer  such  an  opinion  is  tolerated,  the  deeper  root 
it  takes  in  men's  minds  and  becomes  more  difficult  to 
eradicate,  but  it  must  be  done  or  we  shall  never  return 
to  o'ood  ofovernment  and  order." 

The  eyes  of  the  Governor  gradually  open.  He 
writes  to  Dartmouth  :  "  As  yet  but  small  response  to 
the  Committee  of  Correspondence  from  the  towns,  but 
the  proceeding  is  to  be  regarded  as  very  dangerous." 

Early  in  January,  1773,  letters  to  Dartmouth  and 
Pownal  narrate  the  progress  of  the  Committee  of  Cor- 
respondence, the  scheme  for  which,  he  has  learned,  is 
intended  to  include  the  Colonies  as  well  as  the  towns. 
The  statute  of  Henry  VIII.  relating  to  the  carrying  of 
accused  persons  to  England  for  trial,  the  Governor 
wishes  had  been  newdy  enacted,  as  there  were  no  Col- 

^  Tliis  draft,  apparently  the  rough  outline  from  which  the  letter  to 
Dartmouth  was  afterwards  written,  is  crossed  out  up  to  this  point,  as  if 
Hutchinson  felt  he  had  gone  into  particulars  to  an  luinecessary,  perhaps 
a  disrespectful,  degree.     M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  430. 


2U  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

onies  when  it  was  passed,  and  to  extend  it  to  their 
affairs  might  seem  a  strain.  He  thinks  it,  therefore, 
inexpedient  to  put  it  in  practice  if  any  other  way  can 
be  found,  as  it  would  certainly  cause  great  alarm.  He 
is  anxious  to  have  Parliament  interfere,  and  purposes 
himself  to  lay  an  elaborate  paper  before  the  General 
Court,  a  plan  which  he  at  once  proceeds  to  carry  out, 
and  which  produces  a  memorable  crisis.  But  before  we 
turn  to  this,  let  us  see  how  the  "  Man  of  the  Town- 
Meeting"  justifies  against  the  Tory  the  institution  with 
which  he  is  identified.^ 

"  But  were  there  no  such  Laws  of  the  Province,  or 
should  our  Enemies  pervert  these  and  other  Laws  made 
for  the  same  Purpose  from  their  plain  and  obvious  In- 
tent and  Meaning,  still  there  is  the  great  and  perpetual 
Law  of  Self-preservation,  to  which  every  natural  Person 
or  corporate  Body  hath  an  inherent  Right  to  recur. 
This  being  the  Law  of  the  Creator,  no  human  Law  can 
be  of  force  against  it :  And,  indeed,  it  is  an  Absurdity 
to  suppose  that  any  such  Law  could  be  made  by  Com- 
mon Consent,  which  alone  gives  Validity  to  human 
Laws.  If,  then,  the  '  Matter  or  Thing,'  viz.  the  fixing 
Salaries  to  the  Offices  of  the  Judges  of  the  Superior 
Court,  as  aforesaid,  was  such  as  threatened  the  Lives, 
Liberties,  and  Properties  of  the  People,  which  we  have 
the  Authority  of  the  greatest  Assembly  of  the  Province 
to  affirm,  the  Inhabitants  of  this  or  any  other  Town  had 
certainly  an  uncontrovertible  Right  to  meet  together, 

1  Boston  Gazette,  March  29,  1773.  The  town  clerk's  account  of  the  pro- 
ceedings commences  with  the  statement  that  Samuel  Adams  was  the 
author  of  the  report. 


1773]        THE  COMMITTEE   OF   CORRESPONDENCE.  245 

either  in  the  Manner  the  Law  has  prescribed,  or  in  any 
other  orderly  Manner,  jointly  to  consult  the  necessary 
Means  of  their  own  Preservation  and  Safety.  The  Peti- 
tioners wisely  chose  the  Rule  of  the  Province  Law,  by 
applying-  to  the  Selectmen  for  a  Meeting,  and  they,  as  it 
was  their  Duty  to  do,  followed  the  same  Rule,  and  called 
a  Meeting  accordingly.  We  are  therefore  not  a  little 
surprised  that  his  Excellency,  speaking  of  this  and 
other  principal  Towns,  should  descend  to  such  an  artfid 
Use  of  Words,  —  that  '  a  Number  of  Inhabitants  have 
assembled  together,  and  having  assumed  the  Name 
of  legal  Town-Meetings,'  &c., — thereby  appearing  to 
have  a  design  to  lead  an  inattentive  Reader  to  believe 
that  no  reo'ard  was  had  to  the  Laws  of  the  Province  in 
calling  these  Meetings,  and  consequently  to  consider 
them  as  illegal  and  disorderly. 

"  The  Inhabitants  being  met,  and  for  the  Purpose 
aforesaid,  the  Points  determined,  his  Excellency  says, 
'  were  such  as  the  Law  gives  the  Inhabitants  of  Towns, 
in  their  corporate  Capacity,  no  Power  to  act  upon  ! ' 
It  would  be  a  sufficient  Justification  of  the  Town  to  say, 
that  no  hsiw  forbids  the  Inhabitants  of  Towns,  in  their 
corporate  Capacity,  to  determine  such  Points  as  were 
then  determined.  And  if  there  was  no  positive  legal 
Restraint  upon  their  Conduct,  it  was  doing  them  an 
essential  Injury  to  represent  it  to  the  World  as  illegal. 
Where  the  Law  makes  no  special  Provision  for  the  com- 
mon Safety,  the  People  have  a  Right  to  consult  their 
own  Preservation,  and  the  necessary  Means  to  with- 
stand a  most  dangerous  Attack  of  arbitrary  Power. 
At  such  a  Time,  it  is  but  a  pitiful  Objection  to  their 


246  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

thus  doing,  that  the  Law  has  not  expressly  given  them 
power  to  act  upon  such  Points.  This  is  the  very  Lan- 
guage of  Tyranny :  And  when  such  Objections  are 
offered  to  prevent  the  People's  meeting  together  in  a 
time  of  Public  Danger,  it  affords  of  itself  just  Grounds 
of  Jealousy  that  a  Plan  was  laid  for  their  Slavery." 

This  much  by  way  of  comment  on  the  conflicting 
views  of  Samuel  Adams  and  Hutchinson  upon  the 
Town-Meeting.  Hutchinson,  aristocratic  in  his  polit- 
ical conceptions,  believing  that  the  few  wise  should 
guide,  while  the  many  of  limited  wisdom  should  follow, 
retaining  in  their  hands  but  a  modicum  of  power,  turned 
away  from  the  Town-Meeting,  in  which  the  majority  was 
omnipotent,  with  disgust.  That  a  good  outcome  could 
proceed  from  the  dehberations  of  the  "plain  people," 
the  multitude  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  state,  whom  Abraham 
Lincoln  so  loved,  and  whom  he  was  so  willing  to  trust, 
the  Tory  Governor  conceived  as  rarely  probable.  Much 
less  had  he  any  conception  of  the  mighty  educative  in- 
fluence of  such  an  institution  upon  the  i3opulation  in 
the  midst  of  which  it  exists,  an  influence  which  im- 
pressed so  profoundly  the  spirit  of  John  Stuart  Mill.^ 
In  the  society  which  had  shaped  itself  in  New  England, 
the  worse  part,  in  his  view,  was  imposing  its  will  upon 
the  better  part ;  and  he  saw  his  duty  in  thwarting  and 
blocking  by  whatever  means  he  could  employ  the  tu- 
multuous crowd  in  Faneuil  Hall  and  the  Old  South  that 
overrode  with  such  scant  ceremony  the  more  refined 
world  of  the  Province,  and  vociferated  so  disrespectfully 
against  time-honored  privilege  and  prerogative  across 

1  See  Considerations  on  Representative  Government. 


1773]        THE   COMMITTEE  OF  CORRESPONDENCE.  247 

the  sea.  If  his  view  was  narrow  and  not  justified,  he 
had  at  any  rate,  in  holding  to  it,  much  good  company 
in  his  own  day  ;  nor  is  the  number  small  at  the  jjresent 
hour  of  those  who  will  declare  Hutchinson's  conception 
to  be  entirely  correct,  —  who,  appalled  by  the  rough 
incidents  and  tumultuous  course  of  democratic  rule, 
would,  if  they  could,  commit  themselves,  as  men  did  in 
the  past,  to  the  sway  of  the  few  or  the  sway  of  one. 

Samuel  Adams,  on  the  other  hand,  thoroughly  a  man 
of  the  people,  was  ready  to  apply  Town-Meeting  rule 
through  thick  and  thin.  He  was  ready  to  admit  to  the 
deliberations,  and  to  the  voting  even,  the  ignorant,  per- 
haps the  vicious;  and  was  little  troubled  though  the 
voices  of  the  well-placed  and  educated  were  silenced. 
There  was  no  sphere,  in  his  view,  into  which  the  Town- 
Meeting  might  not  venture.  In  a  later  time  he  was 
ready  to  apply  its  methods  to  the  management  of  the 
general  aff aii's  of  the  United  States,  shrinking  from  any 
delegation  of  power,  even  when  the  popular  way  was 
cumbrous  to  the  last  degree.  The  student  of  those 
times  Avill  see  in  the  North  End  Caucus,  in  much  of  its 
action,  a  prototype  of  the  "  Machine,"  of  such  ill  odor 
to-day  in  the  nostrils  of  municij)al  reformers.  Mackin- 
tosh, leader  of  the  rioters  who  tore  down  Hutchinson's 
house  in  1765,  was  apparently  as  thorough  a  ruffian  as 
ever  met  justice  at  the  hands  of  a  vigilance  committee. 
Yet,  after  a  short  retirement,  we  find  him  again,  unpun- 
ished, in  the  streets  of  Boston ;  and  in  the  time  of  the 
Massacre,  and  later,  as  we  shall  see,  at  the  Tea-Party, 
he  and  his  "  chickens  "  are  discreditably  in  evidence 
among  the  better  men,  suffered,  indeed  connived  at,  by 


248  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

reputable  Whigs  in  a  way  liarcl  for  us  now  to  under- 
stand. Samuel  Adams  was  himself  a  man  of  the  strict- 
est piety  and  most  austere  morals.  His  vindications  of 
the  right  of  the  people  to  rule  themselves,  and  smite 
back  the  interference  of  distant  and  high-placed  would- 
be  masters  and  tax-gatherers,  are  full  of  dignity  and  the 
manliest  courage  ;  as  were  also  his  actions  in  further- 
ance of  the  ideas  he  professed.  But  the  query  con- 
stantly suggests  itself  to  him  who  ponders  his  career, 
how  could  a  man  high-minded  and  wise,  to  such  an 
extent  the  master  in  the  sphere  in  which  he  moved, 
have  admitted  this  and  that  objectionable  agent,  or 
allowed  this  and  that  piece  of  policy,  or  stooped  himself 
to  such  questionable  practices  ? 

Hutchinson  and  Samuel  Adams,  men  alike  in  patri- 
otic purpose,  though  so  far  apart  in  then*  ideas  of  the 
methods  by  which  their  country's  good  might  be  se- 
cured, thoroughly  honest  and  well  disposed,  were  yet 
very  human  instruments.  Each  saw  the  truth  but  par- 
tially ;  each,  in  scheming  to  push  the  plans  he  believed 
to  be  of  public  advantage,  did  things  which  one  can 
only  wonder  at.  But  when  has  it  been  otherwise,  as 
the  world  has  gone  forward? 


CHAPTER   XI. 

THE    GREAT    CONTROVERSY. 

The  following  letter,  written  out  of  the  hot  water  in 
which  he  becomes  immersed  early  in  1773,  will  well  in- 
troduce an  important  event  of  Hutchinson's  career  :  — 

February  14,  1773,  to  Gambier  :  "I  am  involved  in 
spite  of  my  teeth  in  a  fresh  controversy  with  my  two 
Houses.  I  have  always  avoided  the  point  of  the  su- 
premacy of  Parliament,  —  I  have  taken  it  for  granted 
that  it  was  not  to  be  disputed.  The  grand  incendiary 
having  tried  every  measure  besides  to  bring  the  Prov- 
ince into  an  open  declaration  of  independency,  at  length 
projected  a  plan,  1st,  to  bring  the  town  of  Boston  into 
it,  and  then  into  a  vote  to  send  their  resolves  to  every 
other  town  and  district  in  the  Province,  with  a  desire  to 
adopt  them,  and  to  appoint  committees  to  correspond 
with  a  committee  of  the  town  of  Boston,  and  to  concert 
measures  for  maintaining  their  principles.  The  several 
towns  having  made  -these  resolves,  there  would  be  but 
little  difficulty  in  bringing  their  representatives  to  agree 
to  them  in  the  House ;  and  this  being  done,  the  other 
Assemblies  throughout  the  continent  were  to  be  desired 
by  a  circular  letter  to  join  with  the  House  of  Massachu- 
setts Bay.  Upon  the  invitation  of  Boston  the  towns  of 
PHmouth,  Charlestown,  Cambridge,  Marblehead,  Rox- 
bury,  and  I  suppose  an  hundred  more  of  the  towns,  met 


250  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

and  passed  the  same  resolves.  I  could  no  longer  dis- 
pense with  passing  the  most  open  testimony  against 
such  extravagance,  and  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  As- 
sembly, I  endeavored  to  show  them  what  their  constitu- 
tion was,  and  called  them  to  join  with  me  in  supporting 
it  or  to  show  me  where  I  was  erroneous.  I  send  you  my 
speech,  their  reply,  and  my  answer,  which  may  be  some 
little  amusement  to  you,  though  I  need  to  apologize  for 
laboring  to  prove  points  so  evident;  the  prejudices  peo- 
ple were  under  made  it  necessary.  Can  you  beheve  that 
all  those  cloudy,  inconclusive  expressions  in  the  Council's 
answer  came  from  B.?^  They  certainly  did,  and  the 
contempt  with  which  I  have  treated  them  enrages  him, 
but  he  has  compelled  me  to  it.  By  employing  them  in 
this  way,  they  have  been  kept  hitherto  from  perfecting 
their  plan,  and  about  one  half  the  towns  in  the  Province 
have  hitherto  refrained  from  comj)lying  with  Boston ; 
but  everything  is  uncertain,  and  nothing  more  is  in  my 
power  than  to  stand  my  ground  against  a  constant  op- 
position, and  now  and  then  to  throw  something  before 
them  to  catch  at  and  direct  them  from  their  main  object, 
tearing  the  constitution  to  pieces."  " 

The  Governor  had  indeed  good  legal  grounds  for 
holding  the  establishment  of  the  Committee  of  Cor- 
respondence to  be  "glaringly  unconstitutional."  One 
branch  of  the  legislature  seemed  to  assume  the  power« 
of  the  whole ;  the  powers  of  the  Representatives  were 
continued  practically  after  the  term  for  which  they 
were  elected  had  expired..^     The  Town-Meetings,  whose 

^  Bowdoin.  ^  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  448. 

2  Hist.,  vol.  '";.^  p.  396. 


1773]  THE  GREAT  CONTROVERSY.  251 

jurisdiction  was  by  prescription  purely  local,  presumed 
to  meddle  with  the  management  of  the  British  empire. 
January  6,  he  convened  the  legislature,  and  whereas 
he  had  before  avoided  discussing  the  supremacy  of  Par- 
liament, he  now  proceeded  to  take  the  step.  His  letters 
now  indicate  a  certain  despondency,  due  no  doubt  to 
the  vigor  with  which  he  is  answered  in  the  controversy 
which  he  has  precipitated  ;  and  also  to  the  fact  that  his 
own  friends  often  disapprove  his  course.  He  expresses 
a  feeling  of  inadequacy  for  his  position,  hopes  he  shall 
not  be  neglected  and  forgotten,  and  begs  for  a  passage 
to  England  on  a  government  ship. 

June  12,  1773,  to  Dartmouth  :  "  It  gives  me  pain 
that  any  step  which  I  have  taken  with  the  most  sincere 
intention  to  promote  his  Majesty's  service,  should  be 
judged  to  have  a  contrary  effect."  ^  Plainly  he  has  heard 
some  disapproval  from  the  Secretary  of  the  course  he 
has  followed.  "  The  princij^les  so  solemnly  established 
by  the  Crown  and  Parliament  were  unhinged  and  de- 
graded by  the  presumptuous,  argumentative  patronage 
of  a  provincial  Governor."^  There  seems  to  have  been 
some  such  feehng  in  England  ;  and  in  America  the 
Whigs,  at  any  rate,  thought  the  Governor  had  made  a 
great  mistake,  and  were  much  elated.  Says  a  letter 
of  Thomas  Gushing  to  Arthur  Lee,  September,  1773: 
"  I  observe  the  Governor,  by  reviving  the  late  disjiute, 
has  lost  credit  on  your  side  the  water,  as  well  as  on 
ours.  The  Ministry,  I  understand,  are  greatly  chagrined 
at  his  officiousness,  their  intention  having  been  to  let 

1  M.  A .  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  494. 

2  Graham  :  Hist,  of  U.  S.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  340. 


252  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

all  controversy  subside,  and  by  degrees  suffer  matters 
to  return  to  their  old  channel."  ^ 

Says  John  Adams's  Diary,  March  4,  1773 :  "  The 
Governor  and  General  Court  have  been  engaged,  for 
two  months,  upon  the  greatest  question  ever  yet  agi- 
tated. I  stand  amazed  at  the  Governor  for  forcing 
on  this  controversy.  He  will  not  be  thanked  for  this. 
His  ruin  and  destruction  must  spring  out  of  it  either 
from  the  Ministry  and  Parliament  on  one  hand,  or  from 
his  countrymen  on  the  other.  He  has  reduced  himself 
to  a  most  ridiculous  state  of  distress.  He  is  closeting 
and  soliciting  Mr.  Bowdoin,  Mr.  Denny,  Dr.  Church, 
&c.,  &c.,  and  seems  in  the  utmost  agony." 

Hutchinson,  however,  was  by  no  means  unsupported. 
Lord  Thurlow  found  his  course  admirable,  and  Lord 
Mansfield,  with  whom  Hutchinson  talked  the  matter 
over  in  England  the  following  year,  passed  the  highest 
encomiums  upon  the  papers.^ 

The  two  documents  are  the  most  elaborate  state 
papers  of  Hutchinson.  The  cause  of  the  Tories  in 
America  probably  never  received  a  setting-forth  more 
detailed  and  able.  They  well  deserve,  therefore,  to 
be  cited  without  abridgment,  after  long  oblivion.^ 
Equally  important,  on  the  other  side,  Avere  the  replies 
of  the  Council  and  House.  The  elder  Charles  Francis 
Adams,  while  giving  the  evidence  for  John  Adams's 
connection  with  the  controversy,  calls  the  House  docu- 
ment "  the  most  elaborate  state-paper  of  the  revolution- 

^  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  4tli  ser.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  3G0. 
^  Diary  and  Letters,  vol.  i.,  p.  202. 

^  See  Appendix  B.  They  were  given  in  full  the  last  time  in  Bradford's 
Slate  Papers,  1818. 


1773]  THE  (JREAT  CONTROVERSY.  253 

ary  controversy  in  Massachusetts,"  ^  and  Webster,  in 
the  oration  on  Adams  and  Jefferson,  commends  "  the 
singular  ability  of  the  discussion." 

John  Adams  wrote  to  William  Tudor,  March  8, 
1817:  — 

"  Governor  Hutchinson,  in  the  plenitude  of  his 
vanity  and  self-sufficiency,  thought  he  could  convince 
all  America  and  all  Europe  that  the  Parliament  of 
Great  Britain  had  an  authority  supreme,  sovereign,  ab- 
solute, and  uncontrollable  over  the  Colonies,  in  all  cases 
whatsoever.  In  full  confidence  of  his  own  influence, 
at  the  opening  of  a  session  of  the  legislature,  he  made 
a  speech  to  both  Houses,  in  which  he  demonstrated,  as 
he  thought,  those  mighty  truths  beyond  all  contradic- 
tion, doubt,  or  question.  The  public  stood  astonished  ! 
The  two  Houses  appointed  committees  to  take  into  con- 
sideration the  Governor's  speech.  If  any  honest  his- 
torian should  ever  appear,  he  will  search  those  records. 
The  proceedings  of  the  Council  I  shall  leave  to  the 
historian. 

"  The  House  appointed  a  committee  to  take  into  con- 
sideration the  Governor's  speech.  Major  Hawley,  who, 
far  from  assumino;  the  character  of  commander-in-chief 
of  the  House,  pretended  to  nothing,  still,  however,  in- 
sisted with  the  committee  in  private  that  they  should 
invite  John  Adams  to  meet  with  them,  and  to  take  hi; 
opinion  and  advice  upon  every  question.  So  critical 
was  the  state  of  affairs,  that  Samuel  Adams,  John  Han- 
cock, Thomas  Gushing,  and  all  their  friends  and  asso- 
ciates, could  carry  no  question  upon  legal  and  constitu- 

^  John  Adams's  Works,  vol.  ii.,  p.  310. 


254  THE   LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

tional  subjects  in  the  House,  without  the  countenance, 
concurrence,  and  support  of  Major  Hawley.  John 
Adams,  therefore,  was  very  civilly  invited,  requested, 
and  urged  to  meet  the  committee ;  which  he  did  every 
evening  till  their  rej)ort  was  finished. 

"  When  I  first  met  the  gentlemen,  they  had  an  an- 
swer to  his  Excellency's  speech  already  prepared,  neatly 
and  elegantly  composed,  which  I  then  believed  had  been 
written  by  Samuel  Adams,  but  which  I  have  since  had 
some  reasons  to  suspect  was  drawn  at  his  desire,  and 
with  his  cooperation  by  my  friend.  Dr.  Joseph  Warren. 
It  was  full  of  those  elementary  principles  of  liberty, 
equality,  and  fraternity,  which  have  since  made  such 
a  figure  in  the  world,  —  principles  which  are  founded 
in  nature,  and  eternal,  unchangeable  truth,  but  which 
must  be  well  understood  and  cautiously  applied.  .  .  . 
There  was  no  answer,  nor  attempt  to  answer  the  Gov- 
ernor's legal  and  constitutional  arguments,  such  as  they 
were. 

"  I  found  myself  in  a  delicate  situation,  as  you  may 
well  suppose.  In  the  first  place,  the  self-love  of  the 
composer,  who  I  believed  to  be  Samuel  Adams,  having 
then  no  suspicion  of  Warren,  would  be  hurt  by  garbling 
his  infant.  In  the  second  place,  to  strike  out  principles 
which  I  loved  as  well  as  any  of  the  people,  would  be 
odious  and  unpopular. 

"  Can  I  describe  to  you,  my  dear  Tudor,  the  state  of 
my  mind  at  that  time  ?  I  had  a  wife  —  and  what  a 
wife  !  I  had  children  —  and  what  children  !  .  .  .  But 
I  had  taken  a  part.  ...  I  determined  to  set  friends 
and  enemies  at  defiance  and  follow  my  own  best  judg- 


1773]  THE  GREAT  CONTROVERSY.  255 

ment.  .  .  .  We  read  the  answer  paragraph  by  para- 
graph. I  suggested  my  doubts,  scruples,  and  difficul- 
ties. The  committee  seemed  to  see  and  feel  the  force 
of  them.  The  gentlemen  condescended  to  ask  my 
opinion,  what  answer  would  be  proper  for  them  to  re- 
port. I  modestly  suggested  to  them  the  expediency 
of  leaving  out  many  of  those  popular  and  eloquent 
periods,  and  of  discussing  the  question  with  the  Gov- 
ernor upon  principles  more  especially  legal  and  consti- 
tutional. The  gentlemen  very  civilly  requested  me  to 
undertake  the  task,  and  I  agreed  to  attempt  it. 

"  The  committee  met  from  evening  to  evening,  and 
I  soon  made  my  report.  I  drew  a  line  over  the  most 
eloquent  parts  of  the  oration  they  had  before  them,  and 
introduced  those  legal  and  historical  authorities  which 
appear  on  the  record.  .  .  .  The  effect  of  them  upon 
public  opinion  was  beyond  expectation.  The  Govern- 
or's reasoning,  instead  of  convincing  the  people  that 
Parliament  had  sovereign  authority  over  them  in  all 
cases  whatsoever,  seemed  to  convince  all  the  world  that 
Parliament  had  no  authority  over  them  in  any  case 
whatsoever.  Mr.  Hutchinson  really  made  a  meagre 
figure  in  that  dispute.  He  had  waded  beyond  his 
depth.  He  had  wholly  misunderstood  the  legal  doc- 
trine of  allegiance.  In  all  great  affairs  there  is  always 
something  ridiculous ;  et,  7nalheiireiisement,  fai  tou- 
jours  trojy  incline  a  saisir  les  ridicules.  I  had  quoted 
largely  from  a  law  authority  which  no  man  in  Massa- 
chusetts, at  that  time,  had  ever  read.  Hutchinson  and 
all  his  law  counsels  were  in  fault ;  they  could  catch  no 
secret.     They  dared  not  deny  it  lest  the  book  should 


256  THE  LIFE   OF   THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

be  produced  to  their  confusion.  It  was  humorous 
enough  to  see  how  Hutchinson  wriggled  to  evade  it. 
He  found  nothing  better  to  say  than  that  it  was  '  the 
artificial  reasoning-  of  Lord  Coke.'  The  book  was 
Moore's  reports.  The  owner  of  it  —  for,  alas  !  master, 
it  was  borrowed — was  a  buyer,  but  not  a  reader,  of 
books.     It  had  been  Mr.  Gridley's." 

The  reply  of  the  Council  to  Hutchinson's  message, 
the  work  of  James  Bowdoin,  was  in  every  way  an 
acute,  well-studied,  and  happily  formulated  presenta- 
tion. The  reply  of  the  House  deserves  the  commenda- 
tions which  have  been  quoted,  and  owes  unquestionably 
its  power  in  great  part  to  John  Adams.  That  Samuel 
Adams,  too,  did  an  important  work  in  shaping  the  tell- 
ing paragraphs,  all  familiar  with  the  products  of  that 
skilled  and  tireless  hand  will  detect  at  once.  Possibly 
the  Whigs  went  to  a  distance  for  help.  Governor 
Hutchinson,  in  England,  met  a  Maryland  refugee,  who 
assured  him  that  the  lights  of  that  remote  Colony  were 
appealed  to.^  The  controversy  is  without  doubt  the 
most  important  which  preceded  the  Revolution,  and  de- 
serves an  attention  which  later  times  have  not  bestowed 
upon  it.  Since  the  reader  has  the  text  at  hand,^  the 
labor  of  summarizing  may  be  here  spared.  Especially 
interesting  is  the  logical  play,  as  regards  the  dilemma 
proposed  by  the  Governor,  that  if  Parliament  is  not 
supreme  the  Colonies  are  independent.  The  alterna- 
tive is  accepted,  and  the  claim  made  that  since  the 
vassalage  of  the  Colonies  could  not  have  been  intended, 
independent  the  Colonies  are.     There  cannot  be   two 

1  Diary,  Sept.  7,  177G.  ^  Appendix  B. 


1773]  THE   GREAT  CONTROVERSY.  257 

independent  legislatures  in  one  and  the  same  state, 
Hutchinson  has  urged.  Are  not  the  Colonies  then  by 
their  charters  made  different  states  by  the  mother  coun- 
try ?  queries  the  reply.  Although,  declares  Hutchin- 
son, there  may  be  but  one  head,  — the  King,  — yet  the 
two  legislative  bodies  will  make  two  governments,  as 
distinct  as  the  kingdoms  of  England  and  Scotland  be- 
fore the  union.  Very  true,  may  it  please  your  Excel- 
lency, is  the  answ^er ;  and  if  they  interfere  not  with 
each  other,  what  hinders  their  living  happily  in  such  a 
connection,  mutually  supporting  and  protecting  each 
other,  united  in  one  common  sovereign  ?  As  to  the 
dangers  of  independence,  the  answer  states  that  they 
stand  in  far  more  fear  of  despotism  than  of  any  perils 
which  can  come  to  them  if  they  are  cut  loose. 

To  Council  and  House  the  Governor  at  once  re- 
joined, and  to  the  rejoinder  Council  and  House  re- 
turned answers,^  as  they  had  done  to  the  original 
speech,  taking  care  to  have  the  last  word.  The  same 
acuteness  and  decision  appear  as  in  the  earlier  papers, 
the  thin  veneering  of  deferential  courtesy  covering  very 
imperfectly  the  hatred  that  lurks  in  each  period. 

It  is  to  be  remarked,  as  regards  this  important  con- 
troversy, that  the  opponents  were  w^orthy  of  each  other. 
Acute  and  vigorous  intellects,  the  best  courage,  the 
most  unselfish  public  spirit,  were  engaged  on  each  side ; 
nor  were  the  Whigs  superior  to  the  Tories  in  any  one 
of  these  respects.  Both  sides  were  hampered  beyond 
remedy  in  their  effort  to  find  a  firm  ''  constitutional  " 
basis  for  their  respective  claims,  by  the  fact  that  nothing 

^  See  Appeudix  B. 


258  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

has  been  more  fluctuating  and  uncertain  throughout  its 
history  than  the  English  constitution.  What  more  in 
contrast  than  the  Plantagenet  and  the  Lancastrian  con- 
ceptions of  that  Constitution  !  To  Tudor  and  Stuart 
again  it  was  one  thing  ;  to  Common wealthsman,  a  thing 
how  different !  To  the  oUgarchy  that  followed  the  Rev- 
olution of  1688,  a  thing  how  different  still !  Hutch- 
inson was  certainly  correct  in  his  contention,  that  for 
the  most  part  throughout  the  colonial  and  provincial 
history  the  right  of  Parliament  to  regulate  the  affairs 
of  the  whole  empire  had  been  admitted  ;  the  patriot 
champions,  in  maintaining  that  the  claim  to  be  inde- 
pendent of  Parliament  was  anything  more  than  the 
claim  of  a  few  individuals,  living  in  the  unsettled  days 
when  the  royal  succession  was  interrupted,  had  no  good 
ground  to  stand  on.  Hutchinson  was  quite  right,  also, 
in  declaring  that  the  position  of  his  opponents  involved 
an  assertion  of  complete  independence  of  control  from 
home,  —  an  independence  from  which,  in  those  days, 
every  man  in  the  Colonies  but  Samuel  Adams  recoiled, 
as  something  sure  to  bring  calamity.  From  denying 
the  authority  of  Parliament  to  tax  them,  the  Colonies 
had  proceeded  to  a  denial  of  the  authority  of  Parlia- 
ment to  legislate  for  them  in  any  way.  From  dealing 
with  the  Parliament,  the  spokesmen  had  latterly  gone 
on  to  take  in  hand  the  King.  For  a  time  the  conten- 
tion had  been  that  the  relations  of  America  and  Eng- 
land had  been  those  of  Scotland  and  England  before 
the  union.  Scotland  had  retained  its  own  legislature 
for  its  own  affairs,  while  the  authority  of  the  King  had 
never  been  impaired.    The  Stuarts  had  all  the  power  in 


1773]  THE  GREAT  CONTROVERSY.  259 

the  Northern  Kingdom  which  they  had  in  the  Southern, 
—  indeed  had  been  followed  with  more  loyalty  by  the 
Scots  than  the  Southrons  ;  for,  however  it  may  have 
been  the  case  that  the  Covenanters  in  the  Civil  War 
for  a  time  withstood  Charles  I.,  no  denial  of  his  sov- 
ereignty was  ever  made,  and  the  Scots  fought  unani- 
monsly  by  the  side  of  the  Cavaliers  when  the  Indepen- 
dents tried  to  set  up  the  Commonwealth.  In  America, 
however,  the  King  had  of  late  been  practically  set 
aside.  He  could  not  interfere  in  American  affairs,  it 
was  said,  because,  eighty  years  before,  William  HI.  had 
given  the  Colony  a  charter  which  subsequent  monarchs 
had  no  power  to  revoke,  according  to  which  the  Gov- 
ernor must  stand  supreme,  —  he  to  judge  of  what  was 
fit  to  be  done  in  any  emergency,  because  he,  being  on 
the  ground,  could  weigh,  as  the  sovereign  from  his  dis- 
tance of  three  thousand  miles  could  not  weigh,  aU  the 
circumstances  that  bore  on  the  case.  The  prerogative 
men  said  well,  that  from  denying  the  right  of  the  King 
to  instruct  the  Governor,  it  was  but  a  smaU  step  to  de- 
nying the  right  of  the  King  to  ap2:)oint  the  Governor, 
and  that  right  was  the  last  tie  that  remained.  Indeed, 
the  position  of  his  adversaries  had  become  no  less  incon- 
sistent and  absurd  than  Hutchinson  claimed.  While 
professing  loyalty,  they  were  casting  off  Parliament 
and  King.  Two  supreme  authorities  in  one  state  are 
out  of  the  question.  Samuel  Adams  appreciated  this 
well,  though  as  yet  the  wary  "  Chief  Incendiary  "  felt 
it  to  be  impolitic  quite  to  drop  his  mask.  First,  a  three 
years'  "  campaign  of  education  ;  "  then  July  4,  1776. 
It  is  no  discredit  to  Hutchinson  that  in  these  years 


260  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

lie  saw  nothing  but  calamity  in  a  dismemberment  of 
the  British  empire.  That  was  the  general  feeling, 
though  the  Colonies  in  this  blind  way  were  bringing 
about  the  very  severance  which  all  dreaded.  Franklin, 
who  in  this  view  was  quite  in  accord  with  Hutchinson, 
compared  in  his  homely  effective  way  the  British  em- 
pire to  a  handsome  china  bowl,  which  it  was  a  great 
pity  to  break.  In  that  generation  dismemberment 
seemed  certain  to  bring  to  pass  ruin.  Anglo-Saxon- 
dom,  so  thought  the  highest  minded,  would  lose  all 
chance  to  be  preeminent,  and  the  leadership  of  the 
world  must  fall  into  the  hands  of  some  race  less  mas- 
terful, with  ideas  less  promotive  of  human  welfare. 
Hutchinson  could  not  foresee,  no  one  foresaw,  that  the 
shock  of  separation  would  rather  invigorate  England, 
and  that  in  a  few  years,  even  without  the  Thirteen  Colo- 
nies, her  empire  and  influence  would  be  more  far-reach- 
ing than  ever  before  ;  nor  was  it  at  all  within  human 
ken  that,  in  the  cleaving,  the  United  States  could 
come  to  pass,  a  nation  so  mighty,  on  pillars  so  endur- 
ing, of  such  good  hope  to  mankind.  To  the  Governor 
and  all  his  world,  misfortune  only  seemed  to  lie  in 
schism,  and  honor  rather  than  shame  should  be  accorded 
him  for  his  steady  and  uncompromising  fight  against 
it.  As  the  reader  has  abundantly  seen  from  the  letters 
that  have  been  quoted,  what  Hutchinson  thought  of  as 
the  happy  solution  of  the  problems  of  British  empire 
was  in  all  essential  respects  what  has  been  hit  ujDon  as 
the  English  policy  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Each 
Colonial  member  within  its  own  limits  administers  itself, 
quite  unvexed  by  interference  from  the  mother  land  : 


1773]  THE  GREAT  CONTROVERSY.  261 

none  the  less,  each  Colonial  member  concedes  to  the 
power  at  home  —  that  Parliament  which  our  Revolu- 
tionary fathers  so  execrated  and  hated,  now  a  body 
whose  authority  is  largely  increased  —  a  precedence  ; 
indeed,  a  supremacy.  In  all  ordinary  times  and  affairs 
the  Parliament,  so  far  as  the  Colonies  are  concerned,  is 
silent  and  unfelt.  Let,  however,  a  crisis  arise  involving 
the  interests  of  the  whole,  none  of  the  Colonial  mem- 
bers would  to-day  question  the  right  and  duty  of  the 
English  Parliament  to  step  into  the  leadership,  with 
authority,  if  need  were,  to  dictate  east  and  west,  as  far 
as  the  drum-beat  extends,  what  measures  should  be 
taken  and  what  sums  should  be  contributed  to  main- 
tain the  general  welfare.  This  state  of  things  Hutch- 
inson would  have  had,  if  he  could,  a  century  and  a 
quarter  ago.  His  world  had  no  patience  with  such  a 
thought.  From  home  came  always  exasperating  inter- 
meddling with  local  affairs ;  in  the  Colonies  there  was 
no  disposition  quietly  to  endure  until  ministers  should 
grow  wiser.  Standing  directly  between  the  contestants 
advancing  upon  one  another  already  with  weapons  bare 
for  use,  turning  now  to  one  now  to  the  other  with 
pleas,  arguments,  and  entreaties,  to  which  both  one 
and  the  other  turned  deaf  ears,  who  will  say  that  in 
the  attitude  of  the  Governor  there  is  not  something: 
both  pathetic  and  heroic  ! 

This  much  can  be  said  for  the  hated  Tory,  while  at 
the  same  time  full  justice  is  done  to  those  with  whom 
he  struggled.  But  while  Anglo-Saxon  freedom  en- 
dures, honor  will  be  rendered  to  Bowdoin,  to  Otis,  to 
the  Adamses,  and  their  sympathizers  throughout  the 


262  THE  |lFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

Thirteen  ColcAies,  who  insisted,  at  the  risk  of  their 
necks,  that  tl;e  princij)les  of  Magna  Charta,  becoming 
obscure,  should  be  fully  maintained.  There  will  be 
honor  to  them  for  that ;  and  honor  to  them  also  for 
their  impetuous  declaration  that  to  the  plain  people  be- 
longs authority ;  that  the  plain  people,  in  Towai-Meet- 
ing  assembled,  or  in  any  way  seriously  and  solemnly 
convened,  have  a  right  to  pass  judgment  on  all  acts 
that  affect  them,  —  to  apj)rove,  to  condemn,  if  need 
be,  to  denounce,  even  though  it  may  be  the  King ;  and 
if  words  fail  of  effect,  that  the  sword  may  be  lawfully 
snatched  and  all  ties  sundered.  It  was  inexpedient  to  try 
to  justify  this  rule  of  the  people  from  what  was  held  to 
be  the  English  constitution  of  that  day,  or  from  any 
conception  of  that  constitution  which  had  existed  dur- 
ing the  existence  of  the  Colonies,  excejit,  indeed,  the 
memorable  interpretation  given  by  the  men  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, 1649-1653,  which  died  out  in  the  very 
uttering  of  it,  because  a  sordid  world  was  not  worthy 
of  it.^  Far  wiser  was  the  course  of  the  patriot  cham- 
pions, when  at  length  they  threw  precedents  away  and 
boldly  based  their  claims  upon  the  law  of  nature,  — 
upon  inherent  right,  upon  which  human  institutions 
should  not  be  permitted  to  infringe,  however  hoar  with 
age.  Not  until  this  ground  was  assumed  (which  Gads- 
den, of  South  Carolina,  had  counseled  as  far  back  as 
the  Stamp-Act  Congress)  did  the  argument  of  the 
fathers  become  thoroughly  irrefragable.  In  the  long 
fence  with  the  Governor  he  had  them  at  a  disadvan- 
tage, so  long  as  it  was  sought  to  rest  their  justification 

^  See  the  author's  Life  of  Young  Sir  Henry  Vane. 


1773]  THE   GREAT  CONTROVERSY.  2G3 

upon  what  then   existed,  or  had  been  in  existence  in 
preceding  ages/ 

It  was  a  memorable  controversy,  during  which  the 
fiercest  hate  sprang  up  between  the  contestants.  Can- 
did men  to-day  can  thoroughly  respect  the  champions 
of  both  sides.  Certainly  the  claims  of  the  fathers  of 
the  Republic  need  no  further  setting  forth.  In  Hutch- 
inson's case,  grant  that  his  apprehension  of  some  pre- 
cious principles  was  quite  too  weak,  —  that  in  trying  to 
put  restraints  upon  the  people  he  was  foolishly  blind, 
yet  in  his  own  day  he  stood  in  company  of  the  best ; 
and  in  our  day  authoritative  voices  urge  that  any  soci- 
ety, to  be  saved,  must  not  be  given  over  to  itself,  but 
be  guided  and  ordered  by  a  select  "  remnant,"  a  doc- 
trine to  which  Hutchinson  would  have  fully  subscribed. 
"  By  an  unfortunate  mistake,"  wrote  the  Governor  to 
General  Gage,  "  soon  after  the  charter,  a  law  passed 
which  made  every  town  in  the  Province  a  corporation 
perfectly  democratic,  every  matter  being  determined 
by  the  major  vote  of  the  inhabitants ;  and  although  the 
intent  of  the  law  was  to  confine  their  proceedings  to 
the  immediate  proceedings  of  the  town,  yet  for  many 
years  past  the  town  of  Boston  has  been  used  to  interest 
itself  in  every  affair  of  moment  which  concerned  the 
Province  in  general."  ^     It  was  in  the  Governor's  view 

1  "  Adams  now  gives  out  they  are  on  better  ground  ;  all  men  have  a 
natural  right  to  change  a  bad  constitution  for  a  better  whenever  they 
have  it  in  their  power."     Hutchinson  to  Col.  J.  Williams,  April  7,  1773. 

For  an  account  of  this  change  of  base  in  the  American  Whigs  from 
historical  to  natural  rights,  see  D.  J.  Ritchie,  Natural  Rights,  pp.  10,  11, 
London,  1895. 

-  Quoted  in  Wells  :  Life  of  Samuel  Adams,  vol.  ii.,  p.  56. 


264  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

"  by  an  unfortunate  mistake,"  and  not  by  direction  of 
the  Divine  power  that  shapes  the  course  of  nations  for 
their  good.  He  was  brave  and  honest,  however,  and 
had  and  continues  to  have  the  best  countenance. 

Interspersed  within  this  great  controversy,  a  frequent 
interchange  of  messages  had  gone  on  between  Governor 
and  legislature  over  the  question  of  salaries  for  the 
judges  of  the  Superior  Court.  Government  wished  to 
make  the  judges  independent  of  the  Province.  Is  it 
not  well  that  judges  should  be  independent  of  the  com- 
munity in  wdiich  they  are  to  judge?  The  people,  how- 
ever, resisted  long  and  fiercely,  seeing  a  better  condition 
m  the  state  of  things  which  had  prevailed  since  the 
beginning,  —  a  judiciary,  namely,  receiving  at  best  a 
very  meagre  stipend,  —  a  stipend,  moreover,  liable  to  be 
considerably  reduced,  or  indeed  completely  withdrawn, 
if  decisions  were  given  contrary  to  the  popular  vnll. 
Were  the  people  really  wiser  here  than  they  had  been 
in  the  time  of  the  bad  currency  ?  This  important  ses- 
sion of  the  legislature  came  to  an  end  on  the  6th  of 
March. 

On  the  5th  of  March,  Benjamin  Church  (a  man  now 
nearly  forgotten,  but  an  honored  and  prominent  fig- 
ure until  he  turned  traitor  in  1775),  in  delivering  the 
oration  on  the  third  anniversary  of  the  Massacre, 
exclaimed:  "Some  future  Congress  w411  be  the  glorious 
source  of  the  salvation  of  America.  The  Amphictyons 
of  Greece  who  formed  the  diet  or  great  Council  of  the 
states  exhibit  an  excellent  model  for  the  rising  Amer- 
icans." Contemporaneously  with  this  utterance,  tlie 
House  of  Burgesses  in  Virginia  debated  the  subject  of 


1773]  THE  GREAT  CONTROVERSY.  265 

an  intercolonial  Committee  of  Correspondence.  Before 
the  middle  of  the  month  a  measure  favoring-  it  had 
passed,  action  to  some  extent  brought  about,  no  doubt, 
through  incitements  from  Samuel  Adams's  committee 
in  Massachusetts.  The  natal  hour  being  close  at  hand, 
the  unborn  nation  was  plainly  stirring. 

Even  while  the  legislature  were  contending  so  hotly 
with  Hutchinson,  he  made  preparations  for  settling  the 
boundary  on  the  side  of  New  York,  for  which  he  had 
been  appointed  the  year  before.  That  a  state  should 
be  well  secured  and  at  peace,  nothing  is  more  important 
than  that  its  boundaries  should  be  clearly  and  advanta- 
geously settled.  That  Massachusetts  has  fared  here  for- 
tunately is  due  to  Hutchinson.  We  have  already  seen 
him  as  the  principal  figure  in  drawing  the  lines  on  the 
sides  of  New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island,  and  Connecti- 
cut. In  1767,  an  unsuccessful  effort,  in  which  he  was 
the  prime  actor,  had  been  made  to  fix  the  limit  on  the 
side  of  New  York.^  Some  settlement  had  now  become 
imperative ;  and  although  his  principles  were  popularly 
denounced,  and  the  scheme  was  already  in  progress 
which  was  to  fling  him  out  of  the  land,  only  he  could 
be  trusted  to  undertake  the  delicate  negotiation  upon 
which  the  Avelfare  of  the  Province  depended.  The 
journal  of  the  proceedings  is  still  extant  in  the  hand 
of  the  Governor.  With  William  Brattle,  Joseph  Haw- 
ley,  and  John  Hancock,  Hutchinson  journeyed  to  Hart- 
ford, where  in  the  middle  of  May  they  discussed  the 
matter   with    Governor  Tryon,    John   Watts,   William 

^  The  details  are  given  in  the  Alass.  Archives,  marked  "Colonial,"  vol. 
iv.,  1721-1768,  pp.  335-344. 


266  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

Smith,  R.  R.  Livingston,  and  William  Nicoll,  commis- 
sioners of  New  York.  On  election  day  the  dignitaries 
of  Connecticut  invited  the  visitors  to  a  formal  banquet, 
after  which,  until  May  18,  the  business  was  debated. 
The  New  York  men,  although  more  compliant  than  the 
negotiators  of  seven  years  before,  were  still  disposed 
to  exact  hard  concessions,  to  which  all  the  commis- 
sioners but  Hutchinson  were  about  prepared  to  agree. 
New  York  in  that  time  was  rapacious,  and  already  deeply 
involved  with  the  Green  Mountain  Boys  in  disputes 
as  to  the  rightful  ownership  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Grants,  which  in  days  following  were  to  become  the 
State  of  Vermont.  Hutchinson,  however,  while  diplo- 
matic, was  unyielding,  insisting  upon  what  had  been 
substantially  the  demand  of  1767.  At  last  it  was  con- 
ceded, establishing  for  all  time  as  part  of  the  Bay  State 
the  beautiful  county  of  Berkshire.  He  alone,  too,  it 
is  said,  prevented  the  giving  up  by  Massachusetts  of 
her  claim  to  western  lands  ;  these  were  retained,  and 
afterwards  sold  for  a  large  sum.^  It  was  really  a  con- 
siderable victory.  The  Massachusetts  commissioners 
had  been  left  free  to  do  what  seemed  to  them  best; 
the  Governor's  colleagues  cordially  acknowledged  that 
the  success  belono-ed  to  him.     On  the  return  to  Bos- 

o 

ton  the  legislature  was  in  the  May  session,  and  the 
Assembly  authorized  him  to  transmit  the  settlement  to 
Dartmouth,  Secretary  of  State,  at  once,  without  formally 
laying  it  before  them.  They  trusted  him  entirely. 
Hutchinson  with  some  pride  declares  that  "no  previous 

1  N.  E.  Hist,  and  Gen.  Register,  vol.  i.,  p.  310. 


1773]  THE  GREAT   CONTROVERSY.  2G7 

instance  of  a  like  confidence  of  an  Assembly  in  a  Gov- 
ernor" can  be  found  in  Massachusetts  story .^  This 
transient  favor  and  trust  aggravated  for  him  the  force 
of  the  blow  he  was  about  to  receive. 

1  Hist.,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  390,  391. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  AFFAIR  OF  THE  LETTERS. 

How  bitter  the  home-coming  of  Hutchinson  was,  the 
foUowino"  extracts  will  show  :  — 

June  29,  1773,  to  Bernard :  "  After  every  other  at- 
tempt to  distress  me  they  have  at  last  engaged  in  a 
conspiracy  which  has  been  managed  with  infinite  art, 
and  succeeded  beyond  their  own  expectations.  They 
have  buzzed  about  for  three  or  four  months  a  story  of 
something  that  would  amaze  everybody,  and  as  soon  as 
the  elections  were  over,  it  was  said  in  the  House  some- 
thing would  appear  in  eight  and  forty  hours,  which  if 
improved  aright,  the  Province  might  be  as  hajipy  as  it 
was  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  ago.  These  things  were 
spread  through  all  the  towns  in  the  Province,  and  every- 
body's exj)ectations  were  raised.  At  lenglli  upon  mo- 
tion the  gallery  was  ordered  to  be  cleared  and  the  doors 
shut,  and  it  was  rumored  that  the  members  were  sworn 
to  secrecy.  This  was  not  true.  After  most  of  a  day 
sj^ent,  it  came  out  that  Mr.  Adams  informed  the  House 
seventeen  original  letters  had  been  put  into  his  hands, 
wrote  to  a  gentleman  in  England  by  several  persons 
from  New  England,  with  an  intention  to  subvert  the 
constitution.  They  were  delivered  to  him  on  condition 
that  they  should  be  returned  not  printed,  and  no  copies 
taken.  If  the  House  would  receive  them  on  these  terms, 
he  would  read  them.     They  agreed  to  it. 


1773]  THE  AFFAIR  OF  THE  LETTERS.  2G9 

"  It  looks  as  if  the  desio'ii  at  first  was  to  form  the 
resolves  and  never  suffer  the  letters  to  appear  to  be 
compared  Avith  them.  The  name  of  the  person  to  whom 
the  letters  were  wrote  was  erased  from  all  of  them,  but 
they  appear  to  be  all  Mr.  Whately's,  —  six  from  me, 
four  from  the  Lieutenant-Governor,^  one  from  Rogers, 
and  one  from  Auchmuty  to  me  which  I  had  enclosed, 
—  besides  three  or  four  more  from  Rhode  Island  or 
Connecticut.  [So  far  the  amanuensis,  what  follows 
being  in  Hutchinson's  hand.] 

"They  broke  through  the  pretended  agreement, 
printed  the  resolves  and  then  the  letters,  which  effrontery 
was  never  known  before.  The  letters  are  mere  narratives 
which  you  well  know  to  be  true  as  respects  remarks 
upon  the  constitution  of  the  Colonies,  and  such  pro- 
posals as  naturally  follow  from  the  principles  which  I 
have  openly  avowed ;  but  by  every  malversation  which 
the  talents  of  the  party  in  each  House  could  produce, 
they  have  raised  the  prejudice  of  the  people  against 
me,  and  it  is  generally  supposed  all  the  writers  were 
concerned  in  one  plan,  though  I  suppose  no  one  of 
them  ever  saw  or  knew  the  contents  of  the  letters  of 
any  of  the  others  unless  by  accident.  After  three 
weeks  spent  the  House  resolved  to  address  the  King  to 
remove  the  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor.  The 
Council,  through  their  resolves,  as  you  well  know  (for 
most  of  the  facts  about  the  Council  I  had  from  you), 
are  more  injurious  than  those  of  the  House,  yet  con- 
clude that  the  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor  have 
rendered  themselves  so  unpopular,  that  it  cannot  be 

^  Andrew  Oliver. 


270  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

for  his  Majesty's  service  they  should  continue,  &c. 
There  were  five  only  out  of  twenty  in  the  Council  had 
firmness  enough  to  withstand  the  cry,  and  twenty-eight 
in  one  hundred  and  eleven  in  the  House.  .  .  .  Mr. 
Adams  said  in  the  House  that  what  he  had  in  view  was 
to  take  off  such  people  as  were  attached  to  the  Gov- 
ernor, for  the  King  would  never  confirm  a  Governor 
against  the  general  voice  of  the  people,  and  they  had 
got  rid  of  Sir  F.  Bernard  in  that  way."  ^ 

The  affair  of  the  "  Hutchinson  Letters,"  which  cre- 
ated great  excitement  both  in  America  and  England, 
an  affair  in  which  the  best  men  of  Massachusetts  Bay 
were  concerned  (including  Franklin,  then  the  agent 
of  the  Assembly  of  his  native  Province,  though  a  citi- 
zen of  Pennsylvania),  has  been  variously  characterized. 
American  writers  in  general  have  portrayed  it  as  an 
instance  of  spirited  treatment  by  patriots  thoroughly 
upright  and  long-suffering,  of  an  underhand  and  most 
criminal  attack  upon  their  liberties.  The  important 
assertion  of  Dr.  George  E.  Ellis,  in  opposition  to  this 
view,  however,  is,  that  "  the  whole  affair  is  a  marvel- 
ously  strong  illustration  of  the  most  vehement  possible 
cry,  with  the  slightest  possible  amount  of  wool."  ^ 
Hutchinson  himself  believed  that  he  was  pursued  with 
the  most  treacherous  and  unprincipled  malignity.  An 
innocent  man  nearly  lost  his  life  in  a  duel  in  conse- 
quence of  the  transactions  ;  a  shade  has  rested  there- 
from upon  the  character  of  Franklin  which  cannot  yet 
be  said  to  have  been  explained  away ;  the  conduct  of 

^  M.  A.  Hist,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  502,  etc. 
2  Atlantic  Monthly,  vol.  liii.,  p.  662. 


1773]  THE  AFFAIR  OF  THE  LETTERS.  271 

the  people,  so  far  from  being  admirable,  seems  to  some, 
even  at  the  present  day,  to  have  been  a  blind  following 
of  crafty  leaders  into  the  commission  of  grave  injustice. 
Certainly,  the  biographer  of  Hutchinson  is  called  upon 
to  consider  the  matter  with  care. 

Hutchinson  throughout  his  public  life  had  corre- 
spondents in  England.  As  his  manhood  went  forward, 
his  prominence  meantime  always  increasing,  his  letters 
abroad  became  constantly  more  numerous,  addressed  to 
people  of  all  ranks,  from  men  in  humble  station  up  to 
the  Secretaries  of  State.  The  character  of  these  for- 
eign letters  of  Hutchinson  has  been  abundantly  illus- 
trated in  these  pages.  He  expressed  his  views  with 
entire  frankness,  but  certainly  with  no  more  frankness 
than  he  employed  in  his  daily  private  conversations,  and 
in  his  open,  formal  declarations  as  a  high  of&cial.  Not 
the  slio'htest  evidence  exists  that  he  was  ever  double- 
faced :  his  condemnations,  his  counsel,  his  criticisms,  as 
communicated  to  Jackson,  to  Hillsboro,  to  Dartmouth, 
to  Bernard,  are  of  like  tenor  with  his  communications 
as  Chief  Justice,  as  chief  magistrate,  as  conservative 
Boston  townsman.  Both  in  letters  and  in  daily  talk 
and  manifestoes  he  had  condemned  the  high  flights  of 
the  Town-Meeting;  while  not  recommending  the  intro- 
duction of  troops,  he  had  yet  declared  that  Parliamen- 
tary Acts  must  be  backed  up  with  soiae  exertion  of 
force  ;  he  had  mentioned  by  name  the  men  he  regarded 
as  dangerous  to  the  public  peace,  and  approved  of  the 
policy  of  bringing  such  men  to  trial  somewhere  out  of 
New  England,  since  there  they  were  sure  to  be  shielded. 
With  all  this  he  had  never  favored  any  change  in  the 


272  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

charter ;  but  consistently  from  first  to  last  pressed  his 
deeply-set  conviction  that  if  only  Parliament  would 
leave  the  Colonies  to  themselves  in  all  but  strictly  un- 
perial  concerns,  and  if  only  the  Colonies  would  admit 
Parliamentary  supremacy,  that,  however,  to  be  kept  far 
in  the  background,  —  all  would  go  as  well  as  possible, 
no  change  at  all  being  necessary  in  the  existing  instru- 
ment/ Such  were  the  views  expressed  in  his  letters  and 
also  to  those  in  his  Massachusetts  environment.  Hutch- 
inson, however,  had,  as  the  reader  has  had  frequent 
opportunity  to  see,  become  very  nervous  about  having 
the  contents  of  his  letters  reported  from  England  back 
to  his  countrymen.  Why  was  he  nervous?  It  was 
because  he  had  before  him  the  experience  of  Bernard. 
Bernard's  views,  though  plainly  expressed  in  Massachu- 
setts, somehow  seemed  in  the  pojDular  view  much  worse 
when  reported  back  from  across  the  water ;  and  coming 
back  in  that  way  had  been  a  main  factor  in  bringing 
about  his  overthrow.  Hutchinson  feared  now  a  similar 
fate  for  himself.  He  had  never  gone  so  far  as  Bernard, 
for  Bernard  wished  to  change  the  charter.  His  views, 
however,  were  unpopular.  He  held  his  chief  opponents 
—  Samuel  Adams,  Bowdoin,  Otis,  Hawley  —  to  be  full 
of  craft  and  intensely  hostile  to  him  :  they  could  sway 
the  people  as  they  chose.  If  his  letters  should  come 
back,  they  could  give  an  interpretation  to  their  phrases 
which  would  make  them  seem  to  go  much  farther,  and 
to  be  of  character  quite  different,  from  the  sentiments 
uttered  by  the  Governor  to  the  world  of  Massachusetts. 

^  Such  hints  at  "  reform  "  as  occur  on  page  1G9  do  not  imply  change, 
but  only  restoration  to  the  original  intention. 


1773]  THE  AFFAIR  OF  THE   LETTERS.  273 

Hutchinson's  English  friends  were  in  the  main  dis- 
creet, but  what  he  had  feared  at  length  came  to  pass. 
A  package  containing,  with  others,  six  letters  from  him 
was  transmitted  to  America.  The  letters  are  mild  as 
compared  with  some  quoted  in  the  foregoing  pages. 
How  they  were  obtained,  how  used,  and  what  the  con- 
sequences were,  it  is  important  to  set  forth. 

The  view  of  George  Bancroft,  subscribed  to  by 
Robert  C.  Winthrop,^  is  that  the  letters  having  been 
written  to  a  member  of  Parhament,  Thomas  Whately, 
not  a  friend  to  government  but  in  opposition,  were 
shown  by  him  to  his  friend  George  Grenville,  the  pro- 
moter of  the  Stamp  Act,  by  whom  they  were  retained. 
Grenville  dying  in  1770,  and  Whately  in  1772,  the 
letters  fell  into  the  hands  in  some  way  of  Sir  John 
Temple,  the  highly  connected  son-in-law  of  Bowdoin, 
lately  a  Commissioner  of  Customs  in  Boston,  and  after 
the  war  the  first  British  Consul-General  in  the  United 
States.  Temple's  sympathies  were  quite  liberal,  a  dis- 
position no  doubt  helped  forward  by  his  relations  with 
the  energetic  leader  of  the  Massachusetts  Council ;  and 
he  it  was  who  committed  them  to  the  hands  of  Franklin. 
FrankHn,  having  received  the  originals,  under  strict 
injunctions  of  secrecy,  was  allowed  at  last  to  send  them 
to  Boston,  with  the  understanding  that  the  letters  were 
to  be  shown  only  to  a  few  leading  people  of  the  gov- 
ernment, without  being  printed  or  copied,  and  that  they 
were  to  be  carefully  returned.     "  They  were  not,"  he 

1  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  vol.  xvi.,  Feb.  14,  1878.  W.  H.  Whitmore, 
in  the  Nation,  vol.  xxxrviii.,  p.  298,  gives  a  slightly  differeut  account  of  the 
transmission. 


274  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

says,  "  of  the  nature  of  private  letters  between  friends. 
They  were  written  by  public  officers,  to  persons  in  pub- 
lic station,  on  public  affairs,  and  intended  to  procure 
public  measures.  They  were  therefore  handed  to  other 
public  persons  who  might  be  influenced  by  them  to 
produce  those  measures."  Franklin  did  not  contem- 
plate the  publication  of  the  letters,  nor  did  the  Boston 
leaders  to  wdiom  they  had  been  sent.  Hutchinson,  too, 
believes  they  meant  to  keep  back  the  documents,  while 
persuading  the  people  that  they  contained  enormities  not 
to  be  endured ;  ^  but  as  Gushing  told  Hutchinson,  "  the 
people  compelled  their  publication,  or  would  not  be 
satisfied  without  it."  For  thus  making  public  private 
letters,  the  Whigs  were  roundly  denounced.  Wedder- 
burn,  afterwards  Lord  Loughborough,  who  was  scarcely 
inferior  to  "  Junius  "  in  his  power  of  bitter  speech, 
lashed  Frankhn  before  a  Committee  of  Parliament  with- 
out mercy,  who  thenceforth  had  no  position  in  the  Eng- 
lish social  world.  Mr.  Winthrop  palliates  Franklin's 
conduct  by  saying  that  the  best  men  in  Massachusetts 
were  in  it,  Chauncy,  Cooper,  Dr.  Winthrop,  and  Bow- 
doin,  the  latter  of  whom  calls  it  "  that  meritorious  act." 
It  was  a  time  of  great  commotion:  Franklin's  own 
letters  were  thus  opened.  Mr.  Winthrop  believes  it 
may  be  classed  among  what  Burke  calls  "  irregular 
things  done  in  the  confusion  of  mighty  troubles,  not  to 
be  made  precedents  of  or  justified  on  principle."  If 
Franklin  had  done  no  more  than  to  send  the  letters, 
his  conduct  perhaps  need  give  little  trouble  to  his  eulo- 
gists ;  but  there  are  grounds  for  thinking   he  accom- 

^  Hist.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  393.    See,  also,  the  letter  to  Bernard,  p.  269. 


1773]  THE  AFFAIR  OF  THE   LETTERS.  275 

panied  them  by  a  letter  of  his  own,  Avhich  contained  a 
crafty  suggestion.  It  is  claimed  that  July  7,  1773, 
Franklin  wrote  as  follows  to  Dr.  Samuel  Cooper  :  — 

"  The  letters  might  be  shown  to  some  of  the  Gov- 
ernor's and  Lieutenant-Governor's  partisans,  and  spoken 
of  to  everybody,  for  there  was  no  restraint  proposed  to 
talking  of  them,  but  only  to  copying.  And  possibly, 
as  distant  objects,  seen  only  through  a  mist,  appear 
larger,  the  same  may  happen  from  the  mystery  in  this 
case.  However  this  may  be,  the  terms  given  with  them 
could  only  be  those  with  which  they  were  received." 
Tliis  letter  to  Cooper,  so  far  as  it  bears  on  this  matter, 
in  Franklin's  correspondence  edited  by  Sparks,  and  later 
by  Bigelow,  reads  as  follows. 

July  7,  1773,  to  Samuel  Cooper,  London  :  "  You 
mention  the  surprise  of  gentlemen,  to  whom  those  let- 
ters have  been  communicated,  at  the  restrictions  with 
which  they  were  accompanied,  and  which  they  suppose 
render  them  incapable  of  answering  any  important  end. 
One  great  reason  of  forbidding  their  publication  was 
an  apprehension  that  it  might  put  all  the  possessors  of 
such  correspondence  here  upon  theu'  guard,  and  so  pre- 
vent the  obtainino^  more  of  it.  And  it  was  imaofined 
that  showing  the  originals  to  so  many  as  were  named, 
and  to  a  few  such  others  as  they  might  think  fit,  would 
be  sufficient  to  establish  their  authenticity,  and  to  spread 
through  the  Province  so  just  an  estimation  of  the 
writers  as  to  strip  them  of  all  their  deluded  friends,  and 
demolish  effectually  their  interest  and  influence.  The 
letters  might  be  shown  even  to  some  of  the  Governor's 
and  Lieutenant-Governor's  partisans,  and  spoken  of  to 


276  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

everybody ;  for  there  was  no  restraint  proposed  to  talk- 
ing of  them,  but  only  to  copying.  However,  the  terms 
given  with  them  could  only  be  those  with  which  they 
were  received."  ^ 

The  sentence,  "And  possibly,  as  distant  objects, 
seen  only  through  a  mist,  appear  larger,  the  same  may 
happen  from  the  mystery  in  this  case,"  is  omitted.  The 
claim  of  Tory  writers  is  that  the  letter  has  been 
garbled.  Governor  Hutchinson  himself  has  copied  the 
letter  "  on  a  fly-leaf  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  volume  of 
his  Diary." ""  The  omitted  sentence  also  appears  in 
the  letter  as  printed  in  the  Tory  Curwen's  Journal.^ 
Though  such  testimony  of  course  will  not  go  very  far, 
Dr.  Ellis  can  be  cited  as  expressing  a  belief  that  it  may 
possibly  be  true.*  The  free  and  easy  way  of  the  old- 
fashioned  editors  was  to  omit  and  emend  wherever  a 
judicious  touch  of  that  kind  might  veil  a  blotch  in  the 
hero  they  had  in  care.  Franklin  was  the  most  consum- 
mate of  managers,  and  there  was  jjerhaps  nothing  in  his 
character  to  hold  him  back  even  from  a  trick  like  this, 
when  such  a  foe  as  Hutchinson  was  to  be  put  down. 
The  intention  was,  as  Franklin  lets  us  plainly  see,  after 
showing  the  originals  to  a  few  selected  men,  "  to  spread 
through  the  Province  so  just  an  estimation  of  the  writ- 
ers as  to  strip  them  of  all  their  deluded  friends,  and 
demolish  effectually  their  interest  and  influence." 

Following  out  this  plan  soon  after  the  return  of  the 

1  Sparks  :  Life  and  Writings  of  Franklin,  vol.  viii.,  p.  72  ;  Bigelow  : 
Works  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  vol.  v.,  p.  189. 
^  Diary  and  Letters,  P.  O.  Hutchinson,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  337,  338. 
^  Appendix,  art.  "Hutchinson." 
*  Atlantic  Monthly,  May,  1884,  p.  672. 


1773]  THE   AFFAIR  OF  THE   LETTERS.  277 

comniissioneis  from  Hartford,  Hancock  informed  the  As- 
sembly that  within  two  days  something  most  important 
was  to  transpire.  This  announcement  went  abroad, 
greatly  exciting  public  curiosity.  Immediately  after, 
the  public  having  been  excluded,  Samuel  Adams  in- 
formed the  House  of  the  reception  of  the  letters,  and 
of  the  restriction  which  lay  upon  their  publication. 
The  House,  he  said,  could,  however,  be  possessed  of 
their  contents,  and  the  reading  of  the  letters  then  fol- 
lowed. A  committee  then  reported,  taking  the  letters 
together,  that  they  tended  to  annul  the  charter  and 
overthrow  all  liberty.  An  ahnost  unanimous  accept- 
ance of  the  report  followed,  and  the  transactions  being 
made  known  in  the  streets,  the  people  grew  wild  to 
know  upon  what  the  action  of  the  House  was  based. 

Hutchinson  was  at  once  on  the  alert.  He  demanded 
copies  of  the  letters,  declaring  vehemently  that  no  such 
documents  as  were  described  had  ever  proceeded  from 
him.  The  House  sent  him  the  dates  of  the  letters.  He 
refused  a  request  of  the  House  to  transmit  them  copies 
of  the  letters  he  had  written  on  those  dates,  as  there 
would  be  an  impropriety  in  laying  before  them  his  pri- 
vate correspondence,  and  he  was  restrained  by  the  King 
from  showing  that  of  a  public  nature.  He  declared, 
however,  that  neither  private  nor  public  letters  of  his 
"tended,  or  Avere  designed  to  subvert,  but  rather  to 
preserve  entire,  the  constitution  of  the  government."  ^ 
The  popular  clamor  to  know  what  the  letters  contained 
became  now  irresistible.  It  may  be  believed  that  the 
leaders  felt  themselves  to  be  most  awkwardly  placed. 

1  Hist.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  401. 


278  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSOX.  [1773 

They  were  bound  by  tbe  conditions  imposed  by  Frank- 
lin neither  to  print  nor  to  cojDy  ;  and  besides,  as  far 
as  Hutchinson  was  concerned,  the  chief  hete  noire  to 
whom  they  wished  to  put  an  end,  they  were,  of  course, 
perfectly  well  aware,  shrewd,  cool  heads  as  they  were, 
that  the  letters  signed  by  him  were  mild  as  mother's 
milk.  To  yield,  however,  became  a  necessity.  Hancock 
told  the  House  that  copies  of  the  letters  had  been  put 
into  his  hands  in  the  streets ;  they  were  really  out  then, 
and  the  House  gave  way.  The  letters  were  ordered 
printed ;  but  beforehand  the  House  spread  far  and 
wide  a  series  of  resolves,  most  carefully  and  elaborately 
worded,  interpreting  the  letters  in  the  most  unfavor- 
able way,  as  containing  proofs  of  a  conspiracy  against 
the  country,  in  which  Hutchinson  w^as  the  prime  mover. 
The  people  were  prepared  for  revelations  very  terrible  ; 
so  hoodwinked  were  they  that  wdien  the  letters  came, 
as  Hutchinson  said,  "  had  they  been  Chev}^  Chase,  the 
leaders  woidd  have  made  them  believe  it  was  full  of  evil 
and  treason." 

To  justify  this  presentation,  the  full  text  of  letters 
and  resolves  must  be  given. ^ 

As  to  the  letters  by  w^hich  those  from  the  Governor 
were  accompanied,  also  printed  in  the  pamphlet,  there 
is  one  from  Robert  Auchmuty,  September  14,  1768, 
warning  Hutchinson  against  great  danger  to  his  life 
from  "  the  infernal  purposes  of  the  sons  of  liberty  as 
they  falsely  stile  themselves"  —  "terrible  threats  and 
menaces  by  those  Catilines  against  you." 

Of  the  four  from  Andrew  Oliver,  one  of  the  7th  of 

1  See  Appendix  C. 


1773]  THE   AFFAIR  OF  THE  LETTERS.  279 

May,  17G7,  describes  the  effort  of  the  Asseml)ly  to  min- 
imize the  power  of  Crown  officials,  and  the  bad  treat- 
ment of  Hntchinson,  "  a  gentleman  to  whom  they  are 
more  indebted  than  to  any  man  in  the  government." 
The  Governor  onght  to  have  more  salary  in  these  ex- 
pensive days  than  .£1000,  which  has  been  the  cus- 
tomary pay  for  thirty-five  years.  The  Lieutenant- 
Governor  has  "  no  appointments  [salary]  as  such." 
As  Captain  of  Castle  William,  he  has  perhaps  £120. 
The  Secretary  has  about  ,£200,  with  some  fees,  but 
"  perquisites  and  salary  altogether  are  not  the  half  of 
liis  annual  expense."  In  the  following  terms,  he  recom- 
mends that  Crown  officers  be  provided  for  by  the  King  : 
"  The  Crown  did  by  charter  reserve  to  itself  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor,  and 
Secretary :  the  design  of  this  was  without  doubt  to 
maintain  some  kind  of  balance  between  the  powers  of 
the  Crown  and  of  the  people.  But  if  officers  are  not 
in  some  measure  independent  of  the  people  (for  it  is 
difficult  to  serve  two  masters),  they  will  sometimes  have 
a  hard  struggle  between  duty  to  the  Crown  and  a  re- 
gard to  self,  which  must  be  a  very  disagreeable  situa- 
tion to  them,  as  well  as  a  weakening  to  the  authority 
of  government.  The  officers  of  the  Crown  are  very 
few,  and  are  therefore  the  more  easily  provided  for 
without  burdening  the  people ;  and  such  iiromsion  I 
look  iqjon  as  necessary  to  the  restoration  and  siqrport 
of  the  King's  authority."  ^ 

Oliver's  second  and  fourth  letters   are  quite   unim- 
portant ;  in  the  third,  however,  he  distinctly  advises  a 

^  The  italics  are  tliose  of  the  pamphlet  of  the  General  Court. 


280  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

change  of  the  constitution,  saying  that  some  alteration 
is  necessary  in  the  election  of  councilors  ;  that  there 
must  be  less  of  popular  influence  in  order  to  make  the 
resemblance  as  near  as  may  be  to  the  British  Parha- 
ment.  A  change  in  the  charter  he  thinks  may  be  salu- 
tary. 

Charles  Paxton,  head  of  the  Board  of  Customs  Com- 
missioners, writes  from  the  "  Romney,"  June  20,  1768 : 
"  Unless  we  have  immediately  two  or  three  regiments, 
'tis  the  opinion  of  all  the  friends  to  government  that 
Boston  will  be  m  open  rebellionJ^ 

Nathaniel  Rogers  writes  a  letter  personal  and  unim- 
portant about  succeeding  Andrew  Oliver  as  Secretary, 
an  appointment  he  did  not  receive.  What  letters  re- 
main have  even  less  significance. 

The  reader  must  feel  that  these  letters  of  Hutchinson 
are  mild.  A  number  have  been  quoted  in  these  pages, 
which,  while  certainly  not  recommending  any  change 
in  the  constitution,  go  much  more  strongly  against 
popular  ideas  than  any  cited  in  the  pamphlet.  An- 
drew Oliver  does,  indeed,  recommend  a  change  in  the 
Council,  and  Paxton  asks  for  troops  ;  but  there  was  no 
reason  for  supposing  the  Governor  knew  of  their  let- 
ters ;  no  reason  for  supposing  he  sympathized  with 
their  ideas.  It  was  indeed,  as  Dr.  Ellis  urges,  a  very 
marked  case  of  great  cry  and  little  wool.  Is  it  credible 
that  those  wary,  able  men  —  Franklin,  Samuel  Adams, 
Bowdoin,  John  Adams,  Samuel  Cooper  —  really  thought 
these  very  quiet  statements  justified  on  their  part  such 
an  uprising  against  the  Governor  ?  There  is  really 
much  to  make  the  following  explanation  of  their  course 


1773]  THE  AFFAIR  OF  THE   LETTERS.  281 

the  most  satisfactory  one :  they  had  persuaded  them- 
selves Hutchinson  was  so  dangerous  that  if  conduct 
thoroughly  above  board  would  not  answer,  he  must  be 
cast  out  by  questionable  means. 

In  the  only  one  of  the  six  letters  in  which  Hutch- 
inson trenches  closely  upon  controverted  points,  his 
expressions  are  as  follows :  "  I  never  think  of  the 
measures  necessary  for  the  peace  and  good  order  of 
the  Colonies  without  pain  :  there  must  be  an  abridg- 
ment of  what  are  called  English  liberties.  I  relieve 
myself  by  considering  that  in  a  remove  from  the  state 
of  nature  to  the  most  perfect  state  of  government, 
there  must  be  a  great  restraint  of  natural  liberty.  I 
doubt  whether  it  is  possible  to  project  a  system  of 
government  in  which  a  Colony,  three  thousand  miles 
distant  from  the  parent  state,  shall  enjoy  all  the  liberty 
of  the  parent  state.  I  am  certain  I  have  never  yet 
seen  the  projection."  In  Hutchinson's  own  defense,  he 
says  of  these  words,  in  his  History  :  "  To  a  candid 
mind,  the  substance  of  the  whole  paragraph  was  really 
no  more  than  this  :  '  I  am  sorry  the  people  cannot  be 
gratified  with  the  enjoyment  of  all  they  call  English 
liberties,  but  in  their  sense  of  them,  it  is  not  possible 
for  a  Colony  at  three  thousand  miles  distance  from  the 
parent  state  to  enjoy  them,  as  they  might  do  if  they 
had  not  removed.'  "  ^ 

In  no  way  does  the  Governor  say  more  here  than  he 
had  repeatedly  said  in  public.  He  makes  no  recom- 
mendation that  the  charter  should  be  changed  or  troops 

^  Hist.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  409.     That  is,  to  have  repx'esentatiou  in  Parliament 
is  impracticable.     See  page  293. 


282  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

be  sent.  Such  liberties  as  the  establishment  of  Com- 
mittees of  CoiTespondence,  the  discussion  of  great  af- 
fairs of  state  by  the  Town-Meetings,  the  resistance  to 
the  ministerial  policy  in  the  matter  of  the  payment  of 
the  judges  and  the  Crown  officials,  Hutchinson  felt, 
and  in  the  most  open  manner  had  said,  ought  to  be 
abridged.  These,  in  his  idea,  were  excesses,  but  could 
be  remedied  without  touching  the  charter.  He  was  in 
some  points  wrong,  of  course,  but  there  was  nothing 
underhanded  in  his  fight.  He  declares,  further,  that 
he  wishes  well  to  the  Colony,  and,  therefore,  desires  an 
abridgment  of  its  liberty ;  and  that  he  hopes  no  more 
severity  will  be  shown  than  is  necessary  to  secure  its 
dependence. 

The  following  letter,  written  a  little  later  in  the  year, 
November  13,  is  clear  and  manly  :  "I  differ  in  my 
principles  from  the  present  leaders  of  the  people.  .  .  . 
I  think  that  by  the  constitution  of  the  Colonies  the 
Parliament  has  a  supreme  authority  over  them.  I  have, 
nevertheless,  always  been  an  advocate  for  as  large  a 
power  of  legislation  within  each  Colony  as  can  consist 
with  a  supreme  control.  I  have  declared  against  a  for- 
cible opposition  to  the  execution  of  Acts  of  Parliament 
which  have  laid  taxes  on  the  people  of  America :  I 
have  notwithstanding-  ever  wished  that  such  Acts  miof'ht 
not  be  made  as  the  Stamp  Act  in  particular.  I  have 
done  everything  in  my  power  that  they  might  be  re- 
pealed. I  do  not  see  how  the  people  in  the  Colonies 
can  enjoy  every  Hberty  which  the  people  in  England 
enjoy,  because  in  England  every  man  may  be  repre- 
sented in  Parliament,  the  supreme  authority  over  the 


1773]  THE   AFFAIR   OF  THE   LETTERS.  283 

whole  ;  but  in  the  Colonies,  the  people,  I  conceive,  can- 
not have  representatives  in  Parliament  to  any  advan- 
tage. It  gives  me  pain  when  I  think  it  must  be  so.  I 
wish  also  that  we  may  enjoy  every  privilege  of  an  Eng- 
lishman which  our  remote  situation  will  admit  of.  These 
are  sentmients  which  I  have  without  reserve  declared 
among  my  private  friends,  in  my  speeches  and  mes- 
sages to  the  General  Court,  in  my  correspondence  with 
the  ministers  of  state,  and  I  have  published  them  to  the 
world  m  my  History ;  and  yet  I  have  been  declared  an 
enemy  and  a  traitor  to  my  country,  because  in  my  pri- 
vate letters  I  have  discovered  the  same  sentiments;  for 
everything  else  asserted  to  be  contained  in  those  letters, 
I  mean  of  mine,  unfriendly  to  the  country,  I  must  deny 
as  altoofether  o-roundless  and  false."  ^ 

On  a  fly-leaf  of  his  diary  two  years  later,  after  quot- 
ing a  sentence  from  Erasmus  as  to  the  injustice  o£ 
garbled  quotations  from  a  man's  words,  he  continues  : 
"  How  apphcable  is  this  to  the  case  of  my  letters  to 
Whately,  and  the  expression,  ^  there  must  be  an  abridg- 
ment of  what  are  called  English  liberties  !  '  Every- 
thing which  preceded  and  followed  which  would  have 
given  the  real  sentiment  and  taken  away  all  the  odium 
was  left  out." 

Had  the  leaders  lost  in  the  excitement  of  the  contro- 
versies the  power  of  weighing  words  properly,  and  did 
they  honestly  think  Hutchinson's  expressions  deserved 
such  an  interpretation  ?  Did  they  honestly  beheve  it 
was  right  to  hold  him  responsible  for  what  Oliver  and 
Paxton  had  said  ? 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  5G8. 


284  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

Hiitcliinson  claims  it  was  deliberate  artifice.  "  When 
some  of  the  Governor's  friends  urged  to  the  persons 
principally  concerned  .  .  .  the  unwarrantableness  of 
asserting  or  insinuating  what  they  knew  to  be  false 
and  injurious,  they  justified  themselves  from  the  neces- 
sity of  the  thing ;  the  publick  interest,  the  safety  of 
the  people,  making  it  absolutely  necessary  that  his 
weight  and  influence  among  them  should  by  any  means 
whatever  be  destroyed."  ^ 

The  remark  of  a  great  historian  seems  here  appro- 
priate :  "  The  maxim  that  it  is  as  justifiable  to  defeat  a 
public  enemy  by  craft  as  by  valor  finds  easy  access 
to  the  breasts  of  even  hig-h-minded  statesmen."^ 

Hutchinson's  letters  in  this  time  of  trial  deserve  still 
farther  citation. 

"  I  know,"  he  writes  July  11,  "  that  the  great  Gov- 
ernor of  the  world  always  does  right,  and  I  desire  to 
acknowledge  it  when  I  am  in  adversity,  as  well  as  in 
prosperity.  ...  It  cannot  be  many  years  before  I  shall 
be  beyond  the  reach  of  the  most  envious  and  malicious 
enemy.  I  desire  your  prayers  that  while  I  remain  I 
may  be  faithful  to  the  people  and  to  the  King,  —  that 
I  may  preserve  the  decens  et  rectum.  You  may  be 
assured  that  I  have  but  little  if  any  concern  from  any 
danger  of  my  being  superseded,  more  than  a  war-horse 
feels  when  his  heavy  accoutrements  are  to  be  taken  ofP, 
and  he  sees  a  quiet  stable  or  pasture  just  by  him."  ^ 

Jidy  20,  1773,  to  Colonel  Israel  Williams,  of  Hat- 

^  Hist.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  405,  note. 

^  S.  R.  Gardiner  :   Commomvealth  and  Protectorate,  vol.  i.,  p.  105,  Lon- 
don, 1895. 

^  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  515. 


1773]  THE   AFFAIR  OF  THE   LETTERS.  285 

field :  "  Bowdoin  in  the  Council  and  Adams  in  the 
House  have  certainly  shown  themselves  very  adroit, 
but  it  will  be  a  reproach  to  the  body  of  the  people  to 
the  latest  posterity,  that  they  have  suffered  themselves 
to  be  made  such  dupes,  especially  after  a  public  dec- 
laration in  the  House  that  all  that  was  intended  was 
to  raise  a  general  clamor  against  the  Governor  and 
Lieutenant-Governor,  and  then  they  should  be  sure  of 
their  removal.  The  deception  cannot  last  longer  than 
it  did  in  the  time  of  the  witchcraft.  Truth  at  worst 
will  finally  prevail.  As  for  the  Resolves,^  they  are  every 
one  false ;  most  of  them  are  villainous.  I  woidd  have 
declared  them  to  be  so  in  the  most  open  manner,  if  it 
had  been  in  character,  and  woidd  in  the  same  manner 
have  vindicated  every  part  of  the  letters.  In  so  plain  a 
case,  if  but  a  few  persons  only  remain  undeceived,  a  free 
open  testimony  against  the  delusion  \vt1\  soon  undeceive 
the  rest.  I  pitied  the  poor  members,  more  than  one  half 
of  them  being  forced  to  vote  in  verha  magistrl,  either 
directly  against  their  judgment,  or  without  understand- 
ing what  they  voted.  I  have  no  great  doubt  that  sooner 
or  later  this  proceeding  will  reflect  more  infamy  on  all 
concerned,  than  any  pubHc  transaction  since  the  coun- 
try was  settled ;  for  it  was  founded  on  such  baseness  as 
no  civilized  people  have  ever  countenanced,  and  has  been 
conducted  through  every  part  of  its  progress  ^ith  false- 
hood and  deception,  which,  although  for  a  short  time 
they  have  their  intended  effect,  yet  as  soon  as  they  are 
discovered,  prove  ignominious  to  the  authors  of  them."  ^ 

1  See  Appendix  C. 

2  From  the  Williams  MSS.  in  possession  of  the  Mass.  Hist.  Society. 


286  THE   LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

Though  Hutchinson  saw,  as  he  thought,  signs  that 
the  people  would  awake  to  the  injustice  done  him,  the 
Whig  leaders  drove  astutely  and  energetically  toward 
making  the  most  of  the  mood  toward  the  Governor  into 
which  the  towns  had  been  brought.  "  Master  of  the 
Puppets  "  is  Hutchinson's  term  for  Samuel  Adams  in 
these  days  ;  and  he  notes  the  significant  changes  of 
language  which  show  the  growth  of  the  spirit  of  inde- 
pendence. The  Boston  "  town-house  "  or  "  court-house  " 
becomes  what  it  has  remained  to  the  present  day,  —  the 
old  "  state-house,"  and  its  debates  and  decisions  "  Par- 
liamentary" debates  and  acts;  the  Province  laws  be- 
come "  the  laws  of  the  land  ;  "  the  charter,  originally  a 
grant  from  royal  grace,  becomes  "  a  compact :  "  as  the 
House  becomes  "  his  Majesty's  Commons,"  so  the  Coun- 
cil is  assimilated  to  the  Lords,  and  the  right  of  impeach- 
ment, a  function  quite  new,  arrogated  for  it.  The  Revo- 
lution was  indeed  well  along,  and  the  disposition  became 
more  and  more  marked  to  claim  that  the  American  peo- 
ple were  "  in  a  state  of  nature,"  —  that  no  thought 
need  be  given  to  past  charters,  enactments,  or  prece- 
dents ;  but  that  standing  on  their  inalienable  rights  to 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  they  must 
strike  out  for  a  political  arrangement  new  from  the 
foundation.  Besides  the  affair  of  the  Letters,  the  prin- 
cipal toj)ic  of  interest  during  the  summer  of  1773  was 
the  matter  of  the  salaries  of  the  judges  of  the  Superior 
Court,  which  the  Whigs  were  determined  should  not  be 
received  from  the  afovernment,  but  as  heretofore  from 


&' 


The  letter  corresponds  minutely  with  the  draft  in  the  Letter  Book  at  the 
State  House.     M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  516. 


1773]  THE   AFFAIR  OF  THE   LETTERS.  287 

the  vote  of  the  Assembly,  \yhen  finally  the  House 
was  prorogued,  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  main- 
tained a  most  active  life,  scheming,  of  course  under 
Samuel  Adams's  lead,  for  a  congress  of  the  Colonies,  a 
project  which  momentarily  now  took  on  shape  more  and 
more  definite. 

The  reflection  of  the  passing  show  is  vividly  given  in 
Hutchinson's  letters  of  this  time,  —  a  true  picture  ex- 
cept as  the  imperfections  of  his  mirror,  due  to  his  lim- 
ited range  of  view  and  the  passion  aroused  in  him  by 
the  baitino'  he  was  undero-oing-,  distorted  the  imasre. 
In  what  guise  he  moved  in  this  stormful  year,  and  in 
the  next  year  Avhen  he  stood  before  George  III.  to  give 
an  account  of  his  stewardship  (to  descend  for  a  moment 
to  smaller  matters),  such  a  letter  as  the  following  in- 
forms us  narrowly. 

August  2,  1773,  to  Mr.  James  Fisher  :  "  I  desire  you 
to  send  me  by  the  first  opportunity  a  suit  of  scarlet 
broad-cloth,  full  trimmed  but  with  few  folds,  and  shal- 
loon lining  in  the  body  of  the  coat  and  facing,  the  body 
of  the  waistcoat  linen,  and  the  breeches  lining  leather, 
plam  mohair  button-hole  ;  also,  a  cloth  frock  with  waist- 
coat and  breeches,  not  a  pure  white  but  next  to  it,  upon 
the  yellow  rather  than  blue,  —  I  mean  a  color  which 
has  been  much  worn  of  late,  button-holes  and  linins" 
the  same,  the  coat  to  have  a  small  rolling  cape  or 
collar.  —  Also,  a  surtout  of  light  shag  or  beaver,  such 
color  as  is  most  in  fashion  :  a  velvet  cape  gives  a  little 
life  to  it.  The  waistcoats  last  sent  are  cut  rather  too 
large  in  the  neck,  which  makes  them  full  before,  but 
not  much.     Write  me  whether  any  sort  of  garment  of 


288  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

the  fashion  of  velvet  coats,  to  wear  over  all,  which  were 
common  some  years  ago,  are  now  worn,  and  whether  of 
cloth,  and  what  color  and  trimmings.  I  should  not 
chuse  velvet."  ^ 

Not  strangely,  note  was  made  at  this  time  of  the  ex- 
tent to  which  public  places  were  held  by  a  knot  of 
closely  connected  men.  Hutchinson's  brother  Foster 
was  Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas;  Andrew  Oliver, 
Lieutenant-Governor,  had  married  the  Governor's  wife's 
sister ;  Peter  Oliver,  Chief  Justice,  was  father  of  the 
Governor's  daughter's  husband  ;  the  Governor's  own  son 
Thomas  had  lately  become  Judge  of  Probate.  This 
state  of  things,  of  course,  does  not  look  well ;  but  the 
reader  of  this  narrative  will  hardly  suppose  the  holders 
of  these  posts  to  have  become  plethoric  through  their 
emoluments,  or  puffed  up  with  adulations  rendered 
them.  Most  certain  is  it  that  the  accusation  that 
Hutchinson  put  his  own  family  and  friends  into  good 
positions  had  as  slight  foundation  as  many  other  charges 
against  him.  The  positions  involved  great  care  and 
labor,  with  small  pay  and  little  credit ;  such  as  they  were, 
they  were  not  given  to  their  incumbents  by  Hutchinson, 
with  one  exception.  Writing  to  Dartmouth,  August  20, 
1773,  he  says  he  has  seen  in  an  English  newspaper  a 
long  hst  of  places  bestowed  by  him  upon  his  family, 
which  is  in  every  article  false,  the  only  appointment  he 
has  made  being  since  that  time,  of  his  eldest  son  to  a 
judge  of  an  inferior  Court,  a  post  of  £50  a  year."  This 
he  had  offered  to  several  gentlemen,  who  declined  ac- 
cepting it  as  not  worth  the  trouble.     Hutchinson  asks 

'  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  521.  ^  Court  of  Probate. 


1773]  THE  AFFAIR  OF  THE   LETTERS.  289 

for  a  position  for  his  son  "  Billy,"  then  in  England,  a 
quite  proper  request  for  him  to  make  of  the  Earl.  He 
himself  has  been,  he  declares,  in  public  service  for  small 
pay  since  he  was  very  young,  and  has  had  no  chance  to 
provide  for  his  family.^ 

As  the  fall  went  forward,  a  congress  of  the  Colonies 
"  after  the  plan  first  proposed  by  Virginia  "  was  called 
for  with  increasing  emphasis,  and  at  last,  October  11, 
in  the  "  Boston  Gazette,"  an  "  American  Common- 
wealth "  was  boldly  discussed.  Hutchinson's  letter  at 
this  time  to  Dartmouth,  as  to  the  situation  and  the 
prime  mover  in  bringing  it  to  pass,  can  by  no  means  be 
omitted. 

October  9,  1773  (marked  in  the  Letter  Book  "  pri- 
vate ") :  "  The  conductors  of  the  people  are  divided  in 
sentiment,  some  of  them  professing  that  they  only  aim 
to  remove  the  innovations  since  the  date  of  the  Stamp 
Act,  or,  as  they  sometimes  say,  since  the  expiration  of 
the  war  ;  for  they  are  not  always  the  same  :  and  though 
they  don't  think  Parliament  has  a  just  authority,  yet 
they  are  willing  to  acquiesce,  seeing  it  had  been  so  long 
submitted  to.  Others  declare  they  will  be  altogether 
independent ;  they  would  maintain  an  alHance  with 
Great  Britain.  Each  stands  in  need  of  the  other,  and 
their  mutual  interest  is  sufficient  to  keep  them  together. 
Of  the  first  sort,  the  Speaker  of  the  House"  often  de- 
clares himself  :  so  does  a  clergyman  of  Boston,  who  has 
great  influence  in  our  political  measures  ;  ^  and  so  do 
some  of  the  Council  who  have  most  influence  there. 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  529. 

2  Cusliiiig.  3  Andrew  Eliot,  no  doubt. 


290  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

^'  Those  of  the  latter  opinion  have  for  their  head  one 
of  the  members  of  Boston,  who  was  the  first  person 
that  openly  and  in  any  public  assembly  declared  for 
absolute  independence.  From  a  natural  obstinacy  of 
temj)er,  and  from  many  years'  practice  in  politics,  he 
is  perhaps  as  well  qualified  to  excite  the  people  to  any 
extravagance  in  theory  or  practice  as  any  person  in 
America.  From  large  defalcations,  as  collector  of  taxes 
for  the  town  of  Boston,  and  other  defalcations  in  pecu- 
niary matters,  his  influence  was  small  until  within  these 
seven  years ;  but  since  that,  it  has  been  gradually  in- 
creasing, until  he  has  obtained  such  an  ascendency  as 
to  direct  the  town  of  Boston  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives, and  consequently  the  Council,  just  as  he  pleases. 
A  principle  has  been  avowed  by  some  who  are  attached 
to  him,  the  most  inimical  that  can  be  devised,  that  in 
political  matters  the  public  good  is  above  all  other  con- 
siderations; and  every  rule  of  morality,  when  in  compe- 
tition with  that,  may  very  well  be  dispensed  with.  Upon 
this  principle,  the  whole  proceedings,  with  respect  to  the 
letters  of  the  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor,  of 
which  he  was  the  chief  conductor,  has  been  vindicated. 
In  ordinary  affairs,  the  council  of  the  whole  opposition 
unite.  Whenever  there  appears  a  disposition  to  any 
conciliatory  measures,  this  person,  by  his  art  and  skill, 
prevents  any  effect ;  sometimes  by  exercising  his  talents 
in  the  newspapers,  an  instance  of  which  is  supposed  to 
have  been  given  in  the  paper  enclosed  to  your  Lordsliip 
in  my  letter,  number  twenty-seven ;  at  other  times  by  an 
open  opposition,  and  this  sometimes  in  the  House,  where 
he  has  defeated  every  attempt  as  often  as  any  has  been 


MB 


1773]  THE  AFFAIR  OF  THE  LETTERS.  291 

made.  But  his  chief  dependence  is  upon  a  Boston 
Town-Meeting,  where  he  originates  his  measures,  which 
are  followed  by  the  rest  of  the  towns,  and  of  course  are 
adopted  or  justified  by  the  Assembly.   .  .   . 

"  I  could  mention  to  your  Lordship  many  instances 
of  the  like  kind.  To  his  influence  it  has  been  chiefly 
owing,  that  Avhen  there  has  been  a  repeal  of  Acts  of  Par- 
liament complained  of  as  grievous,  and  when  any  con- 
cessions have  been  made  to  the  Assembly,  as  the  removal 
of  it  to  Boston  and  the  like  (notwithstanding  the  pro- 
fessions made  beforehand  by  the  moderate  part  of  the 
opposition,  that  such  measures  would  quiet  the  minds  of 
the  people),  he  has  had  art  enough  to  improve  them  to 
raise  the  people  higher  by  assuring  them,  if  they  will 
but  persevere,  they  may  bring  the  nation  to  their  own 
terms ;  and  the  people  are  more  easily  induced  to  a  com- 
pHance  from  the  declaration  made,  that  they  are  assured 
by  one  or  more  gentlemen  in  England,  on  whose  judg- 
ment they  can  depend,  that  nothing  more  than  a  firm 
adhesion  to  their  demands  is  necessary  to  obtain  a  com- 
pHance  \\itli  every  one  of  them.  Could  he  have  been 
made  dependent,  I  am  not  sure  that  he  might  not  have 
been  taken  off  by  an  appointment  to  some  pubhc  civil 
office.  But,  as  the  constitution  of  the  Province  is 
framed,  such  an  appointment  would  increase  his  abiH- 
ties,  if  not  his  disposition  to  do  mischief,  for  he  well 
knows  that  I  have  not  a  Council  which  in  any  case 
would  consent  to  his  removal,  and  nobody  can  do  more 
than  he  to  prevent  my  ever  having  such  a  Council. 

"  I  have  presumed  thus  in  a  private  letter  to  give  your 
Lordship  a  true  state  of  the  Province.  .  .  .  Where  any 


292  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

unnecessary  change  or  innovation  has  been  made  which 
has  not  a  real  tendency  to  strengthen  government,  or 
where  there  is  any  room  to  doubt  whether  a  measure 
has  been  in  consistency  with  the  charter  or  other  rights, 
or  where  the  thing  desired  is  immaterial  in  itself,  but 
imagined  to  be  of  importance,  I  wish  to  see  the  people 
gratified.  .  .  .  On  the  other  hand,  where  any  conces- 
sion is  made  on  a  demand  not  founded  upon  right,  and 
which  will  cast  more  weight  into  the  popular  scale,  your 
Lordship  will  judge  whether  in  the  present  state  of  the 
Province  there  is  no  danger  of  its  being  improved  to 
force  compliance  with  every  other  demand,  even  to  in- 
dependence itself."  ^ 

As  the  autumn  deepened,  Hutchinson  interpreted 
favorably  toAvard  himself  the  symptoms  he  perceived  of 
the  mood  of  the  people,  —  enjoying  a  brief  Indian 
summer  of  favor  before  the  outbreak,  now  not  distant, 
of  a  storm  more  cold  and  pitiless  than  ever.  October 
16,  he  writes  :  "  I  now  see  so  great  a  change  in  the 
people  wherever  I  travel  about  the  country,  that  I  have 
reason  to  think  I  shall  rather  gain  than  lose  by  the  late 
detestable  proceedings,  and  my  friends  express  stronger 
attachment  to  me  than  ever.  .  .  .  One  would  be  apt 
to  think  that  men  of  common  sense  would  never  pass  a 
set  of  resolves  founded  upon  letters  which  had  no  tend- 
ency to  support  them  ;  but  I  have  lately  had  reason  to 
believe  they  did  not  intend  the  letters  should  ever  ap- 
pear, and  that  after  they  had  spread  very  false  reports 
of  the  tenor  and  purport  of  the  letters  many  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Boston  called  upon  theu'  representatives 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  pp.  549,  etc. 


liMi 


1773]  THE   AFFAIR  OF  THE  LETTERS.  293 

for  the  publication  of  them,  and  they  were  obliged  to 
submit  to  it."  October  18,  he  writes  :  "  The  Council 
say  in  one  of  their  resolves,  that  I  have  declared  there 
must  be  an  abridgment  of  English  liberties.  They 
might  have  just  as  well  charged  David  with  saying, 
'  There  is  no  God.'  When  I  wrote  those  letters,  some 
of  my  correspondents  proposed  a  representation  of  the 
Colonies  in  Parliament,  and  said  that  without,  they 
could  not  enjoy  the  liberties  of  Englishmen.  This 
caused  me  to  write  as  I  did.  It  gave  me  pain  to  think 
the  Colonies  could  not  enjoy  every  liberty  which  the 
kingdom  could,  but  I  did  not  see  how  it  could  be 
helped  ;  a  representation  was  not  practicable,  and  I  had 
never  seen  any  other  scheme  that  satisfied  me.  No 
candid  man  will  contend  any  other  meaning.  I  write 
all  such  things  cur  rente  caJamo.  If  I  had  supposed 
they  would  be  printed,  I  should  have  expressed  myself 
more  carefully.  I  explain  this  expression  because  I  see 
they  harp  so  much  on  it  in  the  English  papers.  I  don't 
see  any  other  which  can  be  even  tortured  to  serve  th^ir 


purpose."  ^ 


^  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  556. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 
Hutchinson's  last  days  in  America. 

"  The  town  of  Boston,"  Hutchinson  writes  to  Dart- 
moutlij  "  is  the  source  of  all  the  disorders  of  the  gov- 
ernment ;  and  many  persons  of  the  best  judgment  in 
the  Province  often  remark  that  if  that  town  could  be 
separated  from  the  rest,  which  they  don't  suppose  it 
can  be,  my  administration  would  be  as  easy  to  me  as 
I  could  wish.  .  .  .  There  has  hardly  been  an  instance 
of  any  other  town  meddhng  with  any  affairs  but  what 
immediately  concern  them,  except  when  called  upon 
by  this  town,  with  a  view  by  multiplying  instances 
of  irregularity,  to  give  countenance  to  their  own  prac- 
tice." 

A  crisis  was  at  hand  more  threatening  than  any  that 
had  preceded.  November  24,  the  Governor  writes  from 
Milton  to  Andrew  Oliver  :  ^  — 

"It  is  very  necessary  I  should  have  a  consultation 
with  you  upon  the  state  of  the  Province  ;  I  must  desire 
you  therefore  to  come  out  before  dinner  to-day ;  and  if 
you  think  best  to  take  the  Secretary^  with  you,  I  have 
no  objection,  and  could  wish  to  have  as  much  advice 
as  possible.     When  I  saw  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 

1  Andrew  Oliver's  handsome  home  was  in  Dorchester,  half  way  be- 
tween Boston  and  Milton  Hill. 
^  Thomas  Flacker, 


^m 


1773]        HUTCHINSON'S  LAST  DAYS   IN  AMP:RICA.         295 

assembled  under  color  of  law,  and  heard  of  the  open 
declaration,  that  we  were  now  in  a  state  of  nature,  and 
that  each  one  has  a  right  to  take  up  arms  ;  and  when 
in  the  meeting,  as  I  am  informed,  the  inhabitants  were 
accordingly  called  '  To  arms,  to  arms,'  and  they  all  re- 
pHed  vdih   clapping  and  general  applause  ;  —  when  a 
tumultuous  assembly  of  people  can  from  time  to  time 
attack  the  persons  and  properties  of  the  King's  sub- 
jects, and  threaten  death  and  destruction  to  them ;  and 
when  assemblies  are  tolerated  from  night  to  night  in 
the    public    town-hall  to   consult  and  determine   upon 
further  unlawful  measures,  and  very  dark  propositions 
and  resolutions  are  made  and  agreed  to  there  ;  —  when 
the  infection  is  industriously  spreading,  and  the  neigh- 
bor towns  not  only  join  their  committees  with  the  com- 
mittee of  Boston,  but  are  assembled  in  Town-Meeting 
to  approve  of  the  doings  of  the  town  of  Boston  ;  —  and 
above  all,  when  upon  repeated  summoning  of  the  Coun- 
cil they  put  off  any  ad\4ce  to  me  from  time  to  time,  and 
I  am  obliged   to  consent  to  it  because  all  the  voices 
there,  as  far  as  they  declare  their  minds,  I  have  reason 
to  fear  would  rather  confirm  than  discourage  the  people 
in  their  wrong  proceedings,  —  under  all  these  circum- 
stances I  think  it  time  to  deliberate  whether  his  Majes- 
ty's service   does  not  call  me  to  retire  to  the  Castle, 
where  I  may  with  safety  to  my  person  more  freely  give 
my  sense  of  the  criminality  of  these  proceedings  than 
whilst  I  am  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  some  of  whom 
and  those  most  active,  not  only  in  print  but  in  cabals, 
don't  scruple  to  declare  their  designs  against  me.    This 
is  a  measure  which  I  wish  to  avoid  as  long  as  I  can 


296  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

consistent  with  my  duty,  and  tlie  more  because  of  the 
consequences  of  it  to  the  Province,  than  from  any  in- 
convenience to  me  though  I  know  it  will  be  very  great, 
especially  as  after  a  retreat  I  see  but  little  prospect  of  a 
return  until  I  can  receive  advice  from  England.  But 
the  point  to  be  considered  is,  what  am  I  in  duty  bound 
to  do.  When  this  is  settled  the  event  may  be  left  to 
the  great  disposer  of  all  events."^ 

The  fume  now  in  the  wind,  touching  the  Governor's 
quick  sense  and  causing  him  to  utter  himself  in  such 
long-drawn  indignation  and  alarm,  was  from  the  pre- 
monitory simmering  of  the  Boston  Tea  Party.  Town- 
shend's  Act  of  1767,  it  will  be  remembered,  laid  a  tax 
upon  paper,  glass,  painters'  colors,  and  tea.  No  reve- 
nue, probably,  had  ever  been  expected  from  it.  The 
principle  that  Parliament  might  tax,  it  was  felt,  must 
be  maintained ;  the  cost  of  collection  was  greater  than 
the  proceeds,  and  soon  the  tax  was  entirely  withdrawn 
except  upon  the  one  article,  tea.  The  ministry  of  Lord 
North,  now  in  the  front,  cleverly  thought  to  entrap  the 
Colonists  into  a  sufferance  of  the  tax  by  a  neat  arrange- 
ment :  an  export  duty,  paid  in  England,  of  twelvepence 
in  the  pound,  was  withdrawn;  an  import  duty  of  three- 
pence, paid  in  America,  being  retained.  By  the  with- 
drawal of  the  export  duty,  the  tea  could  be  sold  even 
cheaper  than  that  smuggled  in  from  the  Dutch.  It 
was  a  bait  well  designed  to  deceive  the  unwary.  A 
second  advantage  sought  was  relief  to  the  East  In- 
dia Company.  Circumstances,  among  which  the  colo- 
nial non-importation  agreements   were  important,  had 

'  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  575. 


1773]        HUTCHINSON'S   LAST  DAYS   IN   AMERICA.         297 

brought  it  about  that  the  great  company  was  badly 
overstocked  with  tea,  —  17,000,000  pounds,  it  was  said, 
having  accumuhited,  which,  with  a  slow  market,  could 
not  be  disposed  of.  The  cheapening  o£  tea,  however, 
neither  relieved  the  East  India  Company  nor  brought 
the  Colonies,  now  well-schooled,  to  acquiesce  in  taxation 
without  representation. 

The  project  had  been  decided  upon  m  May,  and 
soon  became  known  in  the  Colonies,  where  opposition 
became  manifest  at  once.  The  legislative  Committees 
of  Correspondence  were  busy  through  the  summer,  until 
from  the  remote  South  to  New  Hampshire  a  uniform 
plan  of  resistance  was  decided  upon.  It  was  in  the 
"ringleading  Colony"  of  Massachusetts  Bay  that  the 
crisis  was  to  come.  The  consignees  here,  to  whom  it 
was  appointed  in  England  that  the  tea  should  be  sent, 
were  noteworthy  persons.  Two  of  them  were  Thomas 
and  EHsha  Hutchinson,  sons  of  the  Governor ;  a  third 
was  the  Governor's  nephew,  Richard  Clarke,  father-in- 
law  of  Copley,  the  painter,  and  grandfather  of  Lord 
Lyndhurst,  Lord  Chancellor  of  England.  Benjamin 
Faneuil,  a  f oiu-th,  was  of  the  family  of  the  public-spir- 
ited Huguenot  whose  name  has  become  almost  the  most 
familiar  of  Boston  names ;  a  fifth  was  Joshua  Winslow, 
also  of  a  memorable  family.  These  held  stubbornly 
to  the  task  that  had  been  set  them,  putting  their  prop- 
erty and  their  lives  in  jeopardy,  until  finally  they  were 
driven  to  seek  refuge  in  the  Castle. 

Of  the  figures  opposed  to  them,  Samuel  Adams  was 
the  chief;  while  close  at  hand  Hancock,  Bowdoin,  Dr. 
Thomas    Young,    Dr.    Joseph    Warren,  Dr.  Benjamin 


298  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

Cliurcli,  Josiah  Quincy,  John  Scollay,  chairman  of  the 
Boston  selectmen,  Samuel  and  William  Cooper,  MoH- 
ueux,  and  others  of  station  no  less,  lent  their  hands  to 
action  and  their  heads  to  counsel.  Historic  truth  com- 
pels the  statement  that  an  energetic  personage  also  of 
this  time  was  "  Captain  Mackintosh,"  leader  of  the 
South  End  toughs  in  street  fights  with  the  North  End- 
ers,  the  same  who  had  been  conspicuous  in  the  riot  of 
August,  1765,  in  the  destruction  of  Hutchinson's  house. 
For  his  part  in  that  he  had  never  received  punishment, 
and  now  seems  to  have  been  rather  a  popular  pet.  He 
was  styled  the  "  First  Captain-General  of  Liberty-Tree," 
and  managed  the  illuminations,  hanging  of  effigies, 
etc.  Long  afterward,  in  speaking  of  the  Tea  Party, 
he  said,  "  It  was  my  chickens  that  did  the  job."  ^ 

An  attemj)t  was  made  to  cause  the  consignees  to 
resign  their  commissions  under  Liberty  -  Tree,  after 
the  fashion  of  Andrew  Oliver  in  the  Stamp  Act  days. 
This,  however,  they  refused  to  do,  undergoing  presently 
in  consequence  a  smashing-in  of  their  wdndows  and 
doors,  and  the  reception  of  a  tempest  of  missiles  which 
put  life  and  limb  in  great  danger.  The  consignees, 
called  upon  to  lay  down  their  function  by  a  Town- 
Meeting,  declared  respectfully  that  their  friends  in  Eng- 
land had  entered  into  engagements  on  their  behalf, 
which  made  it  impossible  for  them  to  withdraw  ;  they 
insisted,  however,  that  the  engagements  were  of  a  purely 
''  commercial  nature,"  evidently  wishing  to  correct  a 
prevalent  notion  that  they  were  in  some  way  govern- 
ment officers. 

^  Francis  S.  Drake  :  Tea  Leaves,  lutrod.,  p.  cxxvii. 


1773]        HUTCHINSON'S   LAST  DAYS  IN   AMERICA.  299 

Through  November  debate  went  forward  with  no  re- 
suit.  The  consignees,  backed  by  the  Governor  and  the 
influential  Tories,  stood  their  ground  against  the  plead- 
ino's  of  the  selectmen  and  the  murmurs  of  the  Sous  of 
Liberty  until,  on  November  28,  the  Dartmouth,  owned 
by  the  young  Quaker,  Francis  Rotcli,  twenty-three  years 
old,  sailed  into  port  with  one  hundred  and  fourteen 
chests  of  tea  on  board.  What  followed  has  been  told 
a  thousand  times,  with  all  possible  elaboration,  by  those 
who  sympathize  fully  with  the  tea-destroyers.  Hutch- 
inson set  himself  against  them,  "  his  course  not  showing 
one  sign  of  vacillation  from  first  to  last,  but  throughout 
bearing  the  marks  of  clear,  cold,  passionless  inflexi- 
bility." ^  To  candid  men,  the  letters  he  wrote  in  those 
days  of  struggle  ought  to  have  interest,  as  weU  as  the 
declarations  of  those  who  have  portrayed  him  as  the 
disgraced  minion  of  a  tyrant. 

December  1,  1773,  to  Governor  Tryon,  of  New  York : 
"  Notifications  were  posted  in  all  parts  of  the  town  and 
printed  in  the  newspapers,  requiring  all  persons  in  town 
and  country  to  assemble  at  the  ringing  of  the  bells ; 
and  the  appearance  was  too  numerous  for  the  hall, 
which  caused  them  to  adjourn  to  one  of  the  meeting- 
houses. Nothing  can  be  more  inflammatory  than  the 
speeches  and  resolutions  made  on  this  occasion.  .  .  . 
Whilst  the  rabble  was  together  in  one  place,  I  was 
in  another  not  far  distant,  with  his  Majesty's  Council, 
-  urging  them  to  join  with  me  in  some  measure  to  break 
up  this  unlawful  assembly ;  but  to  no  purpose.  They 
draw  up  a  declaration  of  grievances  which  cause  this 

^  Richard  Frothinsrham. 


300  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

disordered  state  of  the  people,  declare  against  doing 
anything  for  the  protection  of  the  tea  because  the  duty 
on  it  is  unconstitutional,  and  conclude  with  desiring  me 
to  direct  the  justices,  etc.,  to  keep  the  peace.  An  indis- 
creet countenancing  and  encouraging  the  disorders ! 
The  people  being  assembled  again  the  next  day,  I  sent 
the  sheriff  with  a  proclamation,  which  he  carried  into 
the  meeting,  requiring  them  immediately  to  disperse, 
which  they  treated  in  contempt,  and  unanimously  voted 
they  would  not  disperse.  Thus  the  affair  stands  at 
present.  ...  If  they  go  the  lengths  they  threaten,  I 
shall  be  obliofed  to  retire  to  the  Castle,  as  I  cannot 
otherwise  make  any  exertion  in  support  of  the  King's 
authority."  ^ 

December  2,  1773,  to  Dartmouth  :  "  Although  this 
meeting  or  assembly  consisted  principally  of  the  lower 
ranks  of  the  people,  and  even  journeymen  tradesmen 
were  brought  to  increase  the  number,  and  the  rabble 
were  not  excluded,  yet  there  were  divers  gentlemen  of 
good  fortune  among  them,  and  I  can  scarcely  think 
they  will  prosecute  these  mad  resolves  ;  yet  it  is  pos- 
sible, and  if  it  becomes  probable  I  shall  be  under  the 
necessity  of  withdrawing  to  the  Castle  also,  in  order 
to  defeat  them  as  far  as  shall  be  in  my  power."  ^ 

December  3,  1773  :  "  The  whole  business  of  the  let- 
ters was  turninof  fast  to  the  shame  of  all  who  had  been 
concerned  in  the  plot,  and  a  gentleman  who  is  very  ob- 
servant had  congratulated  me  upon  the  fair  prospect  of 
being  a  popular  governor ;  when  a  new  subject  —  the 
news  of  the  intended  importation  of  tea  by  the  East 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  576.  -  Ibid.,  p.  578. 


1773]        HUTCHINSON'S  LAST  DAYS   IN  AMERICA.  301 

India  Company  —  afforded  occasion  for  renewing  our 
disorders.  The  first  thing  suggested  was  that  it  was  a 
phm  of  mine,  to  recommend  myself  to  administration. 
...  I  must  observe  there  is  nothing  in  this  last  affair 
which  can  charge  the  Province  in  general,  all  being- 
done  by  the  peo})le  of  Boston,  and  a  few  from  half  a 
dozen  towns  round  about,  drawn  in  by  the  artifices  of 
Boston,  expecting  them  to  share  in  the  criminality  and 
lessen  their  own  share.  I  could  be  content  to  part 
with  what  estate  I  have  in  this  town,  which  is  not  in- 
considerable, if  the  inhabitants  would  be  content,  and 
it  could  be  effected  to  be  separated  from  the  rest  of  the 

Province.     I  think  my  government  would  be  very  easy 

to"  1 
me. 

December  14,  1773,  to  Dartmouth  :  "  It  would  be 
a  good  measure  if  the  General  Court  could  be  brought 
to  the  enacting  a  law  for  disfranchising  such  towns  as 
assemble  for  other  purposes  than  the  immediate  con- 
cerns of  the  town.  They  really  have  no  further  power, 
as  the  Province  law  now  stands.  It  looks  as  if  the 
principal  actors  in  some  late  Town-Meetings  were  afraid 
of  being,  at  one  time  or  other,  called  to  account  by  some 
other  authority  than  any  within  the  Province ;  for 
when  anything  very  extravagant  is  to  be  done,  a  meet- 
ing of  the  people  at  large  is  called  by  printed  notifi- 
cation, without  signing ;  but  selectmen,  town  clerk, 
etc.,  attend.  In  the  last  assembly  in  the  largest  meet- 
ing-house in  town,  a  gent  who  spoke  in  behalf  of  the 
consignees  called  upon  the  selectmen.  Mr.  Adams,  the 
representative,  corrected  him,  and  remarked  that  they 

^  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  581. 


302  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

knew  no  selectmen  at  those  meetings.  Surely,  my 
Lord,  it  is  time  this  anarchy  was  restrained  and  cor- 
rected by  some  authority  or  other."  ^ 

At  last  came  the  evening  of  December  16,  with 
its  never-to-be-forgotten  event.  Next  day,  while  the 
broken  chests  covered  the  water  far  and  near,  and  the 
tea,  caught  by  the  tide,  washed  under  the  wharves,  then 
on  the  ebb  was  drawn  out  into  the  harbor  in  a  long 
windi-ow,  —  while  the  town  was  all  excitement  over  what 
it  had  done,  the  Whigs  braced  to  meet  the  conse- 
quences, the  Tories  muttering  of  the  direst  punishment 
sure  to  come,  Hutchinson  sat  down  to  write  a  calm  re- 
port to  Dartmouth. 

December  17,  1773 :  "  My  Lord,  the  owner  of  the 
ship  Dartmouth,  which  arrived  with  the  first  teas,  hav- 
ing been  repeatedly  called  uj)on  by  what  are  called  the 
Committee  of  Correspondence  to  send  the  ship  to  sea, 
and  refusing,  a  meeting  of  the  peojDle  was  called  and 
the  owner  required  to  demand  a  clearance  from  the 
custom-house,  which  was  refused,  —  and  then  a  permit 
from  the  naval  officer  to  jDass  the  Castle,  which  was  also 
refused; — after  which  he  was  required  to  apply  to  me 
for  the  permit ;  and  yesterday,  towards  evening,  came 
to  me  at  Milton,  and  I  soon  satisfied  him  that  no  such 
permit  would  be  granted  until  the  vessel  was  regularly 
cleared.  He  returned  to  town  after  dark  in  the  even- 
ing, and  reported  to  the  meeting  the  answer  I  had 
given  him.  Immediately  thereupon  numbers  of  the 
people  cried  out,  '  A  Mob  !  a  Mob  !  '  left  the  house, 
repaired  to  the  wharf,  where  three  of  the  vessels  lay 

1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  588. 


1773]        HUTCHINSON'S  LAST  DAYS  IN  AMERICA.         303 

aground,  having  on  board  three  hundred  and  forty 
chests  of  tea,  and  in  two  hours'  time  it  was  wholly  de- 
stroyed. The  other  vessel,  Captain  Loring,  was  cast 
ashore  on  the  back  of  Cape  Cod  in  a  storm,  and  I  am 
informed  the  tea  is  landed  upon  the  beach,  and  there  is 
reason  to  fear  what  has  been  the  fate  of  it.  I  sent 
expresses  this  morning  before  sunrise  to  summon  a 
Council  to  meet  me  at  Boston,  but  by  reason  of  the 
indisposition  of  three  of  them  I  could  not  make  a 
quorum.  I  have  ordered  new  summons  this  afternoon, 
for  the  Council  to  meet  me  at  Milton  to-morrow  morn- 
ing. What  influence  this  violence  and  outrage  may 
have  I  cannot  determine.  Probably  it  may  issue  in  a 
proclamation  promising  a  reward  for  discovering  the 
persons  concerned,  which  has  been  the  usual  proceed- 
ing in  other  instances  of  high-handed  riots.  A  sufficient 
number  of  people  for  doing  the  work  were  disguised, 
and  these  were  surrounded  by  a  vast  body  of  people, 
who  generally,  as  was  commonly  reported,  went  from 
this  meeting,  w^hich  it  is  said  w^as  more  numerous  than 
any  before,  and  consisted  of  the  inhabitants  of  divers 
other  towns,  as  well  as  Boston  ;  but  in  what  proportion 
I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain.  The  wind  comins: 
fair,  I  do  not  expect  by  this  vessel  to  be  able  to  give 
your  lordship  a  more  particular  account  of  this  unhappy 
affair."  ' 

He  writes  as  follows  to  Israel  Williams,  of  Hatfield  :  — 

Boston,    December    23,    1773 :    "  There    never   was 

greater  tyranny  in  Constantinople  than  has  been  lately 

in  Boston.     Because  a  number  of  o-entlemen  Avho  with- 

o 
1  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  587. 


304  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

out  their  knowledge,  the  East  India  Company  made 
the  consignees  of  400  chests  of  Tea  would  not  send  it 
back  again,  which  was  absolutely  out  of  their  power, 
they  have  forced  them  to  fly  to  the  Castle  for  refuge 
and  then  have  destroyed  the  property  committed  to 
their  care.  Such  barbarity  none  of  the  Aborigines 
were  ever  guilty  of.  The  Admiral  asked  some  of  them 
next  morning  who  was  to  pay  the  fidler.  .  .  .  The 
value  of  what  is  lost  is  12  or  14,000  £  sterling.  Fifty- 
eight  chests  were  cast  ashoar  at  Cape  Cod."  ^ 

To  Mauduit,  he  says  :  "  Nobody  suspected  they 
would  suffer  the  tea  to  be  destroyed,  there  being  so 
many  men  of  property  active  at  these  meetings,  as  Han- 
cock, Phillips,  Rowe,  Dennie,  and  others,  besides  the 
selectmen,  and  town  clerk,  who  was  clerk  of  all  the 
meetings.     Adams  never  was  in  greater  glory."  ^ 

Writing  to  Robertson,  the  Scotch  historian,  with 
whom  as  a  fellow  historian  he  had  come  into  contact,  an 
interesting  passage  is  the  following:  "December  28, 
1773.  The  prevalence  of  a  spirit  of  opposition  to  gov- 
ernment in  the  plantation  is  the  natural  consequence  of 
the  great  growth  of  Colonies  so  remote  from  the  parent 
State,  and  not  the  effect  of  oppression  in  the  King  or 
his  servants,  as  the  promoters  of  this  spirit  would  have 
the  world  to  believe."  ^ 

"  I  have  taken  a  solemn  oath,"  he  writes  to  Samuel 
Swift,  on  the  4th  of  January,  1774,  "  as  Governor,  to 
do  everything  in  my  power  that  the  Acts  of  Trade  may 

1  Williams  Papers,  in  rooms  of  Mass.  Hist.  Society. 

2  Samuel,  of  course. 

^  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  601. 


/trzf^r?^  A-<3^c^*~    cr//e^-^^  y^rr^^-i^yo^^/'^^  ^/-7>^^ 
/r^y  .^fcT^/r^^      ?r^^^^^      cT^^^^W  r^^/:^-». 

7.   /. 


y  *^    /^       c//*//:^ 


^as, 


(^/.J 


FROM  GOVERNOR  HUTCHINSON  TO  SAMUEL  SWIF" 


304  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1773 

out  tlieir  knowledge,  the  East  India  Company  made 
the  consig-nees  of  400  chests  of  Tea  would  not  send  it 
back  again,  which  was  absolutely  out  of  their  power, 
they  have  forced  them  to  fly  to  the  Castle  for  refuge 
and  then  have  destroyed  the  f)roperty  committed  to 
their  care.  Such  barbarity  none  of  the  Aborigines 
were  ever  guilty  of.  The  Admiral  asked  some  of  them 
next  morning  who  Avas  to  pay  the  fidler.  .  .  .  The 
value  of  what  is  lost  is  12  or  14,000  £  sterling.  Fifty- 
eight  chests  were  cast  ashoar  at  Cape  Cod."  ^ 

To  Mauduit,  he  says  :  "  Nobody  suspected  they 
would  suffer  the  tea  to  be  destroyed,  there  being  so 
many  men  of  property  active  at  these  meetings,  as  Han- 
cock, Phillips,  Rowe,  Dennie,  and  others,  besides  the 
selectmen,  and  town  clerk,  who  was  clerk  of  all  the 
meetings.     Adams  never  was  in  greater  glory."  ^ 

Writing  to  Robertson,  the  Scotch  historian,  with 
whom  as  a  fellow  historian  he  had  come  into  contact,  an 
interesting  passage  is  the  following :  "  December  28, 
1773.  The  prevalence  of  a  spirit  of  oj^position  to  gov- 
ernment in  the  plantation  is  the  natural  consequence  of 
the  great  growth  of  Colonies  so  remote  from  the  parent 
State,  and  not  the  effect  of  oppression  in  the  King  or 
his  servants,  as  the  promoters  of  this  sj)ii'it  would  have 
the  world  to  believe."  ^ 

"  I  have  taken  a  solemn  oath,"  he  writes  to  Samuel 
Swift,  on  the  4th  of  January,  1774,  "  as  Governor,  to 
do  everything  in  my  power  that  the  Acts  of  Trade  may 

^  Williams  Papers,  in  rooms  of  Mass.  Hist.  Society. 

2  Samuel,  of  course. 

^  M.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  601. 


f^r-/  /^-  >^  J-^^'///^ 


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.....7^  x^..  ^^-^'^  y--£'-—z.f:TyZ:z:':^ 


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FROM  GOVERNOR  HUTCHINSON  TO  SAMUEL  SWIFT 


i^^774 


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^'2^. 


1774]        IIUTCHIXSON'S   LAST  DAYS   IN  AMERICA.         305 

be  carried  into  execution.  Now  to  have  granted  a  pass 
to  a  vessel  which  I  knew  had  not  cleared  at  the  Custom- 
House,  would  have  been  such  a  direct  countenancing 
and  encouraging  the  violation  of  the  Acts  of  Trade, 
that  I  believe  you  would  have  altered  your  opinion  of 
me,  and  seen  me  ever  after  in  an  unfavorable  light.  I 
am  sure  if  I  could  have  preserved  the  property  that  is 
destroyed,  or  could  have  complied  with  the  general  de- 
sire of  the  people,  consistent  vnth  the  duty  which  my 
station  requires,  I  would  most  readily  have  done  it."  ^ 

lu  all  the  events  in  this  story,  after  the  usual  human 
fashion,  good  and  iU  are  mixed  together  in  the  conduct 
of  both  sides.  As  to  the  \Yhigs,  their  principle  that 
there  should  be  no  taxation  ^\'ithout  representation  was,  as 
always  in  these  pre-Revolutionary  contests,  most  clearly 
apprehended,  and  maintained  with  an  unflinching  con- 
stancy and  courage  that  merit  not  only  admiration,  but 
gratitude  from  all  English-spealdng  men.  "  Boston  is 
suffering  in  the  common  cause  "  came  in  a  few  months 
to  be  the  cry  throughout  the  Thirteen  Colonies,  as  the 
penalties  promptly  following  the  destruction  of  the  tea 
seemed  likely  to  wipe  the  town  out  of  existence.  Bos- 
ton suffered  then  for  a  far  wider  world  than  the 
Thirteen  Colonies ;  it  suffered  for  England  as  well  as 
America,  —  for  men  now  livino-  and  for  o-enerations 
yet  unborn,  —  the  clear  sight  that  her  citizens  had  of 
Anglo-Saxon  rights  and  their  boldness  in  upholding 
them  having  brought  it  to  pass  that  Anglo-Saxon  free- 
dom, for  all  the  English-speaking  world  and   for   all 

^  3f.  A.  Hist.,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  611.     Lord  Mahou  thinks  Hutchinson  was 
"perhaps  unwise  "  in  refusing  the  pass.   Hist,  of  Eng.,  vol.  vi.,  p.  2. 


306  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1774 

time,  is  recognized  and  established  as  it  would  not 
otherwise  have  been.  Much  self-denial  the  act  required. 
Tea  seems  to  have  been  a  comfort  more  esteemed  in 
those  days  than  in  ours :  it  was  their  wives  and  daugh- 
ters who  suffered  through  the  deprivation  of  it  more 
than  the  Fathers  themselves.  One  pities,  and  smiles,  too, 
as  he  reads  the  manifestoes  of  the  dames  and  the  young 
maids  as  well,  pledging  themselves  to  abstain,  and  con- 
tenting themselves  with  steeped  catnip  and  raspberry 
leaves.  Lord  North  and  his  ministry  baited  the  hook 
cunningly.  It  was  a  master-move  to  withdraw  the  ex- 
port duty  and  bring  the  tea  in  price  below  what  was 
paid  for  tea  smuggled  from  Holland.  The  penny-wis- 
dom of  the  Yankee  nature  was  most  shrewdly  appealed 
to  in  that  stroke.  In  this  case  it  failed  to  answer ;  as 
did  also  all  the  apparatus  for  terrorizing,  present  and  to 
come.  The  doughty  Httle  town  showed  capital  nerve. 
Men  and  women,  rich  and  poor,  standing  together,  they 
threw  into  the  sea  from  $70,000  to  $100,000  worth  of 
something  they  all  prized.^  "  Oh,  what  a  waste  !  "  must 
have  exclaimed  the  thousands  of  thrifty  souls,  as  the 
fragrant  Bohea,  flung  upon  the  mud-flats,  piled  up 
above  the  bulwarks  of  the  ships  until  it  had  again  and 
again  to  be  shoveled  away.  A  mile  or  two  down  the 
bay  —  they  could  have  floated  up  in  a  few  minutes,  as 
soon  as  the  tide  began  to  flow  —  lay  Montague's  great 
ships  of  war,  scores  of  heavy  cannon  under  control  of 
a  commander  well  known  in  the  town  as  thoroughly 
ready  and  rough.  How  could  they  tell  but  that  the 
broadsides  would  be  at  once  brought  to  bear,  and  the 

^  Lord  Mahon  estimates  the  value  at  £18,000.     Hist.,  vol.  vi.,  p.  2. 


1774]        HUTCHINSON'S   LAST  DAYS   IN   AMERICA.         307 

town  blown  into  splinters  before  the  night  had  passed ! 
Immediate  retribution  did  not  come,  but  every  soul  in 
Boston  knew  that  the  penalty  must  fall,  as  certain  as 
night  follows  day,  and  that  it  was  likely  to  gain  in 
weia'ht  throusfh  beinsr  deferred. 

But  while,  in  the  main,  the  posterity  of  those  men 
and  women  must  admii-e,  the  incidents  of  the  transac- 
tion are  not  by  any  means  always  pleasant.  There  was  a 
mob  in  revolutionary  Boston  scarcely  less  foul-mouthed, 
pitiless,  unscrupulous,  than  that  which  roared  for  the 
blood  of  the  Bourbons  in  revolutionary  Paris,  or  was 
on  the  verge  of  destroying  London  in  the  Gordon  riots. 
Mackintosh  and  his  crew  were  unmistakably  in  evidence ; 
certainly  not  effectually  restrained,  perhaps  connived  at, 
by  the  better  men,  so  that  those,  just  as  conscientious 
and  patriotic,  who  tried  in  lawful  ways  to  oppose,  found 
destruction  for  their  property  imminent,  and  could  feel 
that  their  lives  were  secure  only  when  they  had  fled 
down  the  harbor  to  the  Castle. 

Hutchinson's  limitations  are  plain  here,  as  always. 
While  it  was  no  plan  of  his  to  tax  the  Colonies,  while 
he  thought  and  urged  year  in  and  year  out  the  inexpe- 
diency of  taxing,  and  the  good  policy  of  removing  from 
America  all  such  burdens,  he  felt  only  in  a  feeble  way 
that  a  great  principle  was  infringed  in  taxation  without 
representation.  The  doctrine  that  the  Colonies  were 
virtually  represented  he  would  have  subscribed  to,  quite 
blind  to  the  dang-er  that  indifference  at  that  moment 
might  have  carried  the  English-speaking  race  back  into 
a  regime  as  harsh  as  that  of  the  Stuarts.  He  was,  more- 
over, no  democrat :  the  Town-Meeting  could  adequately 


308  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1774 

care  for  certain  very  restricted  interests,  perliaps,  —  the 
fences,  the  commons,  the  school,  the  poor-house,  within 
the  square  mile  or  two  within  which  it  was  placed ;  but 
to  judge  of  politics  on  a  large  scale  and  call  in  question 
the  administration  of  an  empire  was  intolerable  presump- 
tion. The  few  must  lead,  and  no  state  could  be  well 
ordered  which  the  mass  directed.  Hutchinson  was  un- 
American,  but  he  was  no  less  well-meaning-  and  patriotic 
than  those  whom  he  oj^posed.  The  maintenance  of  this 
tax  on  tea  was,  in  his  view,  utterly  inexpedient.  Why, 
one  asks,  did  he  remain  in  his  place,  enforcing  laws  in 
which  he  had  no  sympathy,  the  instrument  of  a  policy 
he  disHked,  wrecking  utterly  in  the  minds  of  his  coun- 
trymen the  honorable  name  which  for  forty  years  he  had 
been  establishing  ?  It  was  certainly  not  for  the  emolu- 
ments. It  was  not  for  fame  :  instead  of  credit  he  had 
long  received  only  abuse.  No  explanation  can  be  of- 
fered except  that  he  wished  to  be  of  public  service. 
He  kept  hoping  against  hope,  that  the  home  govern- 
ment would  become  wiser  ;  that  statesmen  would  come 
more  and  more  to  abound  of  the  same  mind  as  Dart- 
mouth, who  believed,  as  he  did,  that  a  supremacy  in 
Parhament  having  once  been  recognized,  that  supremacy 
should  be  allowed  to  sink  out  of  sight,  the  Colonies  be- 
ing allowed  to  control  themselves.  He  kejit  hoping 
against  hope,  that  in  his  own  land  the  punctilio  as  to 
taxation  would  be  less  hotly  pressed.  Might  not  the 
Town-Meetings,  too,  be  brought  to  admit  that  in  large 
affairs  authority  should  be  conceded  to  the  few  !  These 
things  being  gained,  the  glorious  empire  of  England 
might  remain  undivided,  —  mother  and  daughter  remain- 


1774]        HUTCHINSON'S   LAST  DAYS   IN  AMERICA.  309 

ing  in  peace  togetlier,  an  affectionate  headship  dwelhng 
in  the  one,  a  filial  and  loving  concession  of  precedence 
in  the  other.  To  attain  such  a  consummation  seemed 
to  the  Governor  a  thing  worth  suffering  and  striving  for. 
To  bring  this  about,  as  is  shown  by  all  his  acts  and  all 
his  words,  he  contended  year  after  year,  sacrificing  to 
his  aim  his  reputation,  his  fortune,  at  last,  hardest  of 
all,  his  citizenship,  dying  in  exile  of  a  broken  heart. 
That  end  was  as  yet  some  years  off.  Meantime,  Hutch- 
inson fought  his  fight  with  courage  and  purpose  to  the 
full  as  good  as  belonged  to  those  who  withstood  him. 

The  12tli  of  January  arriving,  the  time  to  which  the 
General  Court  had  been  prorogued,  Hutchinson  made 
still  further  prorogation,  to  January  26.  In  his  mes- 
sage at  the  opening,  he  made  no  reference  to  the  Tea- 
Party,  feeling  certain  it  would  call  out  a  disagreeable 
reply.  Committees  of  Correspondence,  however,  were 
animadverted  upon  as  having  occasioned  the  King's 
displeasure ;  to  which  the  House  replied,  that  while 
then-  rights  w^ere  attacked,  there  must  be  some  method 
of  correspondence,  in  order  to  obtain  redress  of  griev- 
ances :  since  the  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor 
corresponded  with  men  in  power,  bringing  in  that  way 
measures  to  pass  grievous  to  the  people,  the  Colonies 
on  the  other  side  should  be  allowed  to  correspond,  in 
order  that  relief  might  be  obtained. 

The  dispute,  which  for  some  time  had  been  approach- 
ing an  acute  stage,  became  in  this  session  an  absorbing 
one,  —  whether  or  not  the  judges  of  the  Superior  Court 
should  receive  salaries  from  the  King.^     Judge  Trow- 

^  Hutchinson  :  Hist.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  440,  etc. 


310  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1774 

bridge,  whose  feeble  health,  perhaps,  accounts  for  his 
ready  compliance  with  the  legislative  demand  that  the 
salary  should  continue  to  be  received  from  the  Assembly's 
appropriation,  was  the  first  to  yield,  being  soon  followed, 
however,  by  three  associates ;  this  left  Peter  Ohver, 
now  Chief  Justice,  alone.  He  was  a  man  of  more  reso- 
lution :  at  once  receiving-  the  royal  grant,  he  put  it  out 
of  his  power  to  retract.  He  alleged  he  had  been  a  jus- 
tice of  the  Superior  Court  seventeen  years,  during  all 
of  which  time  his  salary  of  ^£150,  often  delayed,  or 
paid  only  in  part,  had  been  quite  insufficient  for  his 
support.  He  had,  he  declares,  sunk  besides  £2000  of 
his  own  money  in  the  service.^  He  had  never  been  able 
to  obtain  any  redress  :  he  had  been  growing  poor,  and 
had  often  been  on  the  point  of  resigning,  but  had 
always  been  encouraged  to  hope  for  something  better. 
He  had  now  come  to  the  conclusion  that  he  ouoht  to 
receive  the  Crown  grant,  as  much  as  the  judges  in  other 
Colonies,  and  so  obtain  a  support  more  ample  and  cer- 
tain. Severe  resolves  against  Oliver  were  at  once  passed, 
accompanied  by  a  petition  for  his  removal.  An  at- 
tempt was  made  to  prevent  the  sitting  of  the  Superior 
Court.  Hutchinson,  of  course,  was  obdurate,  and  the 
effort  was  at  once  set  on  foot  to  impeach  the  Chief  Jus- 
tice, the  Council  for  that  purpose  to  assume  powers  of 
jurisdiction  like  those  of  the  House  of  Lords.  But 
one  similar  attempt  had  been  made  in  the  history  of  the 
Province,  and  that  had  not  been  sanctioned.  Hutch- 
inson refused    to    convene  the   Council   for  any  such 

^  See  Peter  Oliver's  account,  cited  in  Diary  and  Letters  of  Hutchinson, 
vol.  i.,  p.  142,  etc. 


1774]         HUTCHINSON'S   LAST   DAYS   IN  AMERICA.         311 

unconstitutional  purpose ;  whereupon  Samuel  Adams 
and  Bowdoin,  always  leaders  of  House  and  Council, 
manoeuvred  to  lay  aside  the  Governor.  In  truth,  the 
Whigs  were  getting  far  beyond  the  Constitution.  The 
natural  right  of  a  great  people  to  do  as  it  pleased  was 
fast  becoming  the  popular  ground  ;  the  couriers  of  the 
Committees  of  Correspondence  were  galloping  from  Col- 
ony to  Colony ;  in  the  matter  of  the  tea,  not  only  at 
Boston,  but  at  Philadelphia,  at  New  York,  in  North 
Carolma,  at  Charleston  in  the  far  South,  the  temper  of 
the  people,  though  less  impressively  manifested,  was  no 
less  revolutionary.  They  had  now  stepped  in  so  far,  all 
felt,  that  there  could  be  no  going  back ;  they  must 
hang  together.  What  woes  were  to  be  visited  upon 
Boston  for  what  Admiral  Montague  called  its  "  Indian 
caper  "  were,  during  the  winter  and  spring,  all  un- 
known. Something  direful  was  certain,  and  all  America 
was  prepared  to  countenance  and  help  the  ringleading 
town  under  the  mfliction,  whatever  it  might  be. 

At  the  end  of  the  wdnter,  Hutchinson,  finding  the 
dispute  over  the  judges'  salaries  more  hopeless  than 
ever,  put  an  end  to  the  session,  this  being  the  last 
act  in  his  long  and  stormful  partnership  with  them. 
The  Court  locked  the  door  upon  his  messenger  until 
they  had  done  what  business  it  pleased  them  to  do, 
sio'ualizino'  the  last  moments  of  the  sittino-  with  a 
more  emphatic  outburst  than  ever  of  anger  and  dislike. 
"  If  when  we  complain,"  said  they,  "  we  cannot  even 
be  heard,  our  case  is  indeed  deplorable.  Yet  we  have 
the  pleasure  of  contemplating  that  posterity  for  whom 
we  are  struggling,  will  do  us  justice  by  abhorring  the 


312  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1774 

memory  of  those  men  who  owe  their  greatness  to  their 
country's  ruin."  Hutchinson  announced  that  he  had 
obtained  "  discretionary  leave  from  the  King  to  go  to 
England/'  and  that  he  should  now  make  preparations 
for  his  voyage. 

Early  in  March,  the  news  of  the  Tea-Party  having 
reached  England,  Parliament  began  its  discussion.^  A 
bill  having  been  brought  in  for  the  punishment  of  Bos- 
ton, "  the  principal  object  of  attention,"  the  first  read- 
ing passed  without  discussion  ;  the  second,  also,  with 
little  debate.  At  the  third  reading,  however,  debate 
became  very  spirited.  The  Lord  Mayor  of  London  pre- 
sented petitions  against  it  from  several  "  natives  of 
America,"  and  a  many-voiced  discussion  followed,  in 
which  the  champions  of  America,  her  "  virtual  represen- 
tatives," were  by  no  means  silent.  The  utterance  best 
w  orth  remembering  was  that  of  Barre :  "  Keep  your 
hands  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  Americans,  and  they 
will  be  obedient  subjects."  Remonstrances,  however, 
were  looked  upon  by  the  great  majority  with  impa- 
tience. In  the  Lords  the  temper  toward  the  Colonies 
was  rather  better  than  in  the  Commons,  Dartmouth 
showing  his  usual  good  sense  and  excellent  spirit  by  a 
speech  full  of  conciliation.  Mansfield,  however,  op- 
posed :  the  result  was  the  same  as  in  the  lower  House ; 
in  both  Houses  proceedings  were  so  construed  that  a 
technical  "  unanimity "  came  out,  and  at  the  end  of 
March  the  result  was  the  Boston  Port  Bill. 

Hutchinson's  intention  to  go  at  once  to  England,  an- 
nounced early  in  the  year  to  the  legislature,  was  for  a 

^  Hansard's  Parliamentary  History,  vol.  xvii. 


1774]        HUTCHINSON'S  LAST   DAYS   IN   AMERICA.  313 

time  frustrated  by  the  death  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor, 
Andrew  Oliver,  which  occurred  on  the  3d  of  March. 
As  Hutchinson's  brother-in-law,  associated  with  him, 
too,  in  business  and  public  relations,  the  link  between 
the  chief  magistrate  and  the  deputy  was  of  the  closest 
kind.  By  the  testimony  of  foes  as  well  as  friends,  he 
was  a  most  useful  and  estimable  man,  —  modest,  inde- 
fatigable, well-cultured,  soundly  sensible.  He  had  been 
the  most  beloved  member  of  a  family  greatly  beloved, 
and  no  charge  could  be  brought  against  him  except 
that  in  his  political  principles  he  sided  with  the  Gov- 
ernor. He  had  incurred  great  unpopularity  at  the 
time  of  the  Stamp  Act,  which  he  disapproved,  writing 
to  Eno-land  to  that  effect.  But  without  his  knowledsfe 
he  received  the  appointment  of  distributor,  a  position 
which  he  publicly  resigned  under  Liberty-Tree  at  the 
demand  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty.  From  that  time,  as 
the  shadow  of  Hutchinson,  a  less  marked  but  closely 
connected  and  thoroughly  sympathetic  personality,  he 
had  marched  step  by  step  in  the  troublous  times  in 
which  their  lot  was  cast.  With  Andrew  Oliver  to  take 
his  place,  the  Governor  could  feel  that  in  his  absence 
the  duties  of  the  position  would  be  faithfully  attended 
to.  With  Oliver  dead,  however,  his  honest  feeling  was 
that  no  influence  remained  to  hold  back  the  country 
from  the  destruction  upon  which  it  was  rushing.  At 
the  funeral,  the  disorder  of  the  time  was  sadly  apparent. 
The  House  of  Representatives  withdrew  from  the  pro- 
cession because  a  certain  punctilio  was  neglected ;  the 
mob  of  Boston  ran  hooting  after  the  train,  and  in  an 
unseemly  way   hilarious,  gave  three   cheers    when  the 


314  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1774 

mourners  came  out  of  tlie  graveyard  ;  his  brother,  the 
Chief  Justice,  intrepid  as  he  was,  did  not  dare  to  be 
present  because  his  Hfe  was  threatened.  Hutchinson 
laid  his  friend  in  the  grave,  and  took  up  again  the  bur- 
den of  his  office.  His  respite,  however,  was  not  long 
-  delayed.  On  May  13,  General  Gage  arrived,  appointed 
to  supersede  for  a  time  the  civilian  ;  though  it  was  the 
understandinof  of  Hutchinson  that  when  the  sword  had 
been  brandished  close  at  hand  for  a  period,  an  opera- 
tion which  the  ministry  hoped  would  have  a  healthful 
effect,  he  was  to  return  to  power,  having  meantime 
helped  the  King  with  counsel  in  face  to  face  communi- 
cations. Three  days  before  the  arrival  of  Gage,  news 
had  come  of  the  penalties  which  the  Tea-Party  had 
brought  upon  the  town.  Four  bills  had  been  trium- 
phantly carried  in  Parliament,  had  then  received  the  sig- 
nature of  the  King,  and  now  were  to  be  executed  by 
Gage,  who  was  to  have  at  his  command  four  regiments 
and  a  powerful  fleet.  By  the  first  bill  the  port  of  Bos- 
ton was  to  be  closed.  The  second  bill  was  "  for  the 
better  regulating  the  government  of  the  Province  of 
Massachusetts  Bay :  "  it  changed  the  charter  in  the 
matter  of  the  election  of  the  Council,  abolished  Town- 
Meetings  except  for  the  choice  of  town  officers,  or  on 
the  special  permission  of  the  Governor,  and  gave  the 
Governor  also  power  to  appoint  and  remove  sheriffs, 
who  were  to  be  intrusted  with  the  returning  of  juries. 
The  third  bill  was  "  for  the  impartial  administration  of 
justice,"  and  transferred  the  place  of  trial  of  magis- 
trates, revenue  officers,' and  soldiers  indicted  for  murder 
or  other  capital  offense,  to  Nova  Scotia  or  Great  Britain. 


1774]        HUTCHINSON'S  LAST  DAYS   IN   AMERICA.  315 

A  fourth  bill  legalized,  the  quartering  of  troops  in  Bos- 
ton. The  leading  Whigs  were  to  be  brought  to  pun- 
ishment at  once,  especial  emphasis  being  laid  upon  the 
importance  of  seizing  Samuel  Adams. 

Hutchinson's  work  in  America  was  done.  While 
Gage  was  taking  possession,  the  displaced  chief  magis- 
trate, we  may  well  believe  with  no  heaviness  of  hearty 
made  his  final  preparations,  and  June  1  embarked  for 
England.  Milton  Hill  is  never  lovelier  than  in  early 
June ;  its  noble  trees  show  then  their  densest  and 
deepest  green  ;  the  greater  hills  behind,  the  Massachu- 
setts, through  the  atmosphere  charged  with  fragrant 
mist  rising  from  intervening  blossoming  fields,  have  all 
their  ruggedness  softened  into  beauty.  In  front,  across 
the  green  waving  marshes,  penetrated  by  the  black  cur- 
rent of  the  Neponset,  the  broad  bosom  of  the  harbor 
bears  up  its  islands  to  where  in  the  remote  distance- 
the  white  lighthouse  marks  the  edge  of  the  ocean. 

From  the  higher  land  of  his  noble  estate  Hutchinson 
could  easily  see,  fifty  miles  to  the  west,  the  round  sum- 
mit of  Wachusett,  marking  the  centre  of  the  Province. 
A  few  miles  to  the  west  of  Wachusett  a  fair  township 
was  about  to  be  called  after  him,  Hutchinson ;  and  it 
may  easily  have  been  in  his  thoughts,  as  his  farewell 
glance  took  in  the  landscape  near  and  far,  that  his 
name  would  go  down  to  future  times  attached  to  the 
soil  to  which  his  heart  was  bound. 

The  present  writer  heard  at  Milton  Hill,  from  an  old 
man  who  had  received  the  story  in  his  youth  from  his 
grandfather,  the  Governor's   friend,   that   Hutchinson 


316  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1774 

was  in  cheerful  mood  on  the  day  when  he  left  his 
home  forever.  The  well-jDlaced  world  of  the  Province 
for  the  most  part  approved  of  hun,  and  had  already  be- 
stowed upon  him,  or  were  soon  to  bestow,  strong  marks 
of  favor.      One  hundred   and  twenty  merchants  and 

;  gentlemen  of  Boston,  the  members  of  the  Bar,  the 
Episcopal  clergy,  the  magistrates  of  Middlesex,  a  num- 
ber of  citizens  of  Salem  and  Marblehead,  sent  him  re- 
spectful addresses.  He  had  no  thought  of  a  lasting 
absence.  Though  martial  law  for  a  time  was  to  be 
tried,  he  was  still  Governor,  having  "  received  assurance 
that  General  Gage's  continuance  would  probably  not  be 
of  long  duration,  and  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the 
King  that  he  should  be  reinstated."  ^  Meantime,  his 
salary  was  continued.  He  was  to  give  an  account  of 
his  stewardship  to  his  royal  master.  Boston  was  in  an 
uproar  through  what  he  felt  to  be  the  folly  of  both 
ruled  and  rulers.  The  rulers  he  might  hojDe,  if  he  could 
but  talk  to  them,  to  make  wiser.  As  to  the  ruled,  if 
Gage  could  not  persuade,  he  could  coerce.  Hutchinson 
might  confidently  anticipate  coming  back  to  a  vindi- 
cated authority.  He  turned  away  from  the  far-stretch- 
ing farm,  his  possession  since  1743;  the  amj)le  mansion 
enlarged  and  beautified  after  the  plans  of  Sir  Francis 
Bernard ;     the    long    avenue    of    thrifty    buttonwoods 

.  planted  by  himself,  a  few  survivors  of  which  still  stand,- 
decrepit  and  broken,  the  sole  extant  relics  there  of  the 
man  who  put  them  in  place.  He  walked  down  the  hill 
to  the  Lower  Mills,  nodding  and  smiling  to  his  neigh- 
bors on  this  side  and  that,  whether  Wliig  or  Tory,  for 

1  Hist.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  458. 


1774]        HUTCHINSON'S   LAST   DAYS   IN   AMERICA.         317 

lie  was  good  friends  with  all.  His  carriage,  next  year 
to  be  confiscated  and  appropriated  to  the  use  of  Wash- 
ino'ton,  awaited  him  on  the  level  road  beneath  and  car- 
ried  him  to  the  foot  of  Dorchester  Heights,  a  name  not 
yet  famous.  The  Minerva,  which  was  to  convey  him 
to  England,  lay  in  the  harbor  ;  but  before  embarking 
he  was  rowed  to  the  island  of  the  Castle,  the  last  bit 
of  Massachusetts  earth  to  feel  his  footfall. 

Castle  William,  now  Fort  Independence,  lies  to-day, 
as  always,  close  to  the  deep  water  of  the  channel,  not 
to  be  avoided  by  ships,  whether  inward  or  outward 
bound,  frowning  over  the  busy  harbor  with  cannon- 
crested  ramparts.  These  have  superseded  the  defenses 
of  the  Revolutionary  time,  and  now  in  their  turn  are 
held  to  be  useless,  though  they  still  impotently  threaten. 
The  benevolent  modern  city  has  made  it  possible  to  cross 
from  the  nearest  shore  the  intervening  water  on  a  broad 
pier,  and  to  circle  the  walls  in  a  walk  full  of  inspirations. 
On  a  summer  day,  one  can  get  the  sea-breeze  there 
almost  as  well  as  at  Nahant  or  Nantasket.  Interesting" 
indeed  the  excursion  will  become,  if  he  wdio  makes  it, 
while  taking  in  the  beauty  and  freshness,  has  in  mind 
the  associations  of  the  spot.  From  the  days  of  Win- 
throp  the  fortress  has  kept  guard  at  the  gate.  When 
Young  Harry  Vane  sailed  for  England,  to  do  deeds 
worthy  to  be  sung  by  Milton,  while  lifting  side  by  side 
with  Cromwell  the  pillars  of  the  English  Commonwealth 
into  a  short  but  glorious  day,  these  ramparts  shook 
under  the  salvos  that  marked  his  departure.  Sir  Ed- 
mund Andros,  crossed  in  his  tyrannical  schemes  by  the 
accession  of  William  and  Mary  ;  Sir  William  Phips,  com- 


318  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1774 

ing  home  to  power  with  treasure  in  his  hold  recovered 
from  wrecked  galleons  ;  Pepperell,  setting  sail  for  Louis- 
buro-  with  the  flower  of  New  England  manhood  ;  French 
ships  of  the  line  in  stately  grace,  to  be  crushed  be- 
fore long  under  the  broadsides  of  Kodney ;  the  far-off 
boom  of  heavy  guns  from  the  Chesapeake  and  Shannon 
fio-htino"  in  the  offinof,  —  these  are  among-  the  events 
which  have  touched  the  old  fortress  in  their  happening. 
Probably  no  man  has  known  it  longer  or  more  closely 
than  Hutchinson.  During  the  extended  period  of  his 
lieutenant-governorship,  he  was  its  titular  commander. 
Again  and  again,  his  friends,  his  children,  he  himself, 
had  been  forced  to  seek  asylum  here.  How  constantly 
during  the  troubled  years,  while  Faneuil  Hall  and  the 
Old  South  were  roaring  and  the  smoke  of  conflagrations 
lighted  by  the  mob  filled  the  air,  must  his  eyes  have 
sought,  down  the  channel,  the  grass-grown  mound  with 
the  cross  of  St.  George  floating  above  it,  —  the  one 
secure  spot  in  the  Province,  if  all  else  should  fail ! 

There  must  have  been  gloom  in  the  Governor's  soul 
as  his  eyes  turned  for  what  was  destined  to  be  his  last 
glance,  toward  the  spot  of  his  birth  and  his  lifelong 
striving.  In  the  foreground  lay  the  stubborn  town  that 
had  so  thwarted  and  contemned  him,  and  yet  which  he 
so  much  loved,  —  Copp's  Hill  to  the  right  where  lay 
the  dust  of  his  fathers  and  his  much-cherished  wife  ; 
the  Beacon  on  the  height  in  the  centre  ready  to  flame 
its  invitation  to  sedition  inland  ;  the  third  of  the  three 
summits  still  nearer,  at  the  foot  of  which  the  tea  had 
been  thrown  out.  Across  the  stretch  of  water  the  west- 
erly breeze  for  which  the  Minerva  lay  waiting  must  have 


1774]        HUTCHINSON'S   LAST  DAYS   IN   AMERICA.  319 

brought  distinctly  the  sound  of  the  tolling  bells  mark- 
ing that  the  Port  Bill  that  day  went  into  operation,  as 
he  no  doubt  felt,  to  the  town's  probable  ruin.  In  the 
buckoTound  rose  the  hioh  lands  of  the  beautiful  Prov- 
ince  which  the  old  man  had  lived  for  from  the  days  of 
his  youth.  He  had  written  its  history,  tracing  every 
detail.  That  its  boundaries  swept  wide  and  were  well 
ascertained  was  due  to  his  watchfulness.  No  less  was 
it  due  to  him  that  its  laws  everywhere  were  well  admin- 
istered, chief  among  its  judges  as  he  had  been  through 
many  years.  That  in  all  public  ways  the  people  were 
honestly  and  diligently  served,  his  care  had  brought 
about ;  to  him,  too,  the  credit  belonged  that,  as  each 
man  bought  and  sold,  the  coin  rang  upon  the  counter 
sohd  and  undebased.  Through  him  it  was,  in  fact,  that 
the  Province  was  in  every  way  well-to-do,  buoyant, 
enterprising  before  its  sister  Provinces.  With  such  a 
foundation,  leadership  came  of  necessity.  A  sad  thing 
was  it  in  the  eyes  of  the  father-statesman  that  the  strono; 
child  he  had  nourished  gave  its  energy  and  initiative  in 
willful  ways,  heading  its  thirteen  sisters  in  courses  of 
disloyal  folly.  On  the  ebb,  the  ship  dropped  down 
past  the  headland  of  Hull,  past  the  lighthouse  rising 
above  the  curl  of  the  surf  upon  the  Little  Brewster,  — 

"  Even  in  the  distance  he  can  see  the  tides 

Upheaving  break  unheard  along  its  base, — 
A  speechless  wrath  that  rises  and  subsides 
In  the  white  lij)  and  tremor  of  the  face." 

Was  the  exile's  fancy  sufficiently  awake,  as  he  gloom- 
ily mused,  to  believe  that  even  the  physical  New  Eng- 
land, in  that  parting  glimpse,  wore  an  unfriendly  look  ? 


320  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1774 

Probably  not :  in  his  sober  mind  there  was  little  play 
of  imagination.  In  his  thought,  at  any  rate,  must 
have  risen  vividly  the  memory  of  wrath  that  had  not 
been  speechless,  and  that  had  not  subsided.  Of  what 
that  wrath  was  capable  he  was  soon  to  know.  It  was 
to  bar  him  out  forever,  and  to  cast  forth  into  compan- 
ionship with  him  a  sorrowful  multitude. 

"  History  at  this  late  date  can  certainly  afford  a  com- 
passionate word  for  the  Tories,  who,  besides  being  forced 
to  atone  in  life  for  the  mistake  of  taking  the  wrong  side 
by  undergoing  exile  and  confiscation,  have  received 
while  in  their  graves  little  but  detestation.  At  the 
evacuation  of  Boston,  says  Mr.  Sabine,  in  the  '  Ameri- 
can Loyalists,'  eleven  hundred  Loyalists  retired  to  Nova 
Scotia  with  the  army  of  Gage,  of  whom  one  hundred 
and  two  were  men  in  official  station,  eighteen  were  cler- 
gymen, two  hundred  and  thirteen  were  merchants  and 
traders  of  Boston,  three  hundred  and  eighty-two  were 
farmers  and  mechanics,  in  great  part  from  the  country. 
The  mere  mention  of  calling  and  station  in  the  case  of 
the  forlorn  expatriated  company  conveys  a  suggestion 
of  respectability.  There  were,  in  fact,  no  better  men 
or  women  in  Massachusetts,  as  regards  intelligence, 
substantial  good  purpose,  and  piety.  They  had  made 
the  one  great  mistake  of  conceding  a  supremacy  over 
themselves  to  distant  arbitrary  masters,  which  a  pop- 
ulation nurtured  under  the  influence  of  the  Town- 
Meeting  ought  by  no  means  to  have  made  ;  but  with 
this  exception,  the  exiles  were  not  at  all  inferior  in 
worth  of  every  kind  to  those  who  drove  them  forth. 
The  Tories  were  generally  people  of  substance,  their 


1774]        HUTCHINSON'S   LAST  DAYS   IN   AMERICA.  321 

stake  ill  the  couutry  was  greater,  even,  than  that  of 
their  opponents ;  their  patriotism,  no  doubt,  was  to  the 
full  as  fervent.  There  is  much  that  is  melancholy,  of 
which  the  world  knows  but  little,  connected  with  their 
expulsion  from  the  land  they  sincerely  loved.  The  es- 
tates of  the  Tories  were  among  the  fairest ;  then-  stately 
mansions  stood  on  the  sighthest  hill-brows ;  the  richest 
and  best  tilled  meadows  were  their  farms;  the  long 
avenue,  the  broad  lawn,  the  trim  hedge  about  the 
garden  ;  servants,  plate,  pictures,  —  the  varied  circum- 
stances, external  and  internal,  of  dignified  and  generous 
housekeeping, — for  the  most  part  these  things  were 
at  the  homes  of  Tories.  They  loved  beauty,  dignity, 
and  refinement.  It  seemed  to  belong  to  such  forms  of 
life  to  be  generously  loyal  to  King  and  Parliament 
■without  questioning  too  narrowdy  as  to  rights  and  taxes. 
The  rude  contacts  of  the  Town-Meeting  were  full  of 
things  to  offend  the  taste  of  a  gentleman.  The  Crown 
officials  were  courteous,  well-born,  congenial,  having  be- 
hind them  the  far-away  nobles  and  the  sovereign,  who 
rose  in  the  imagination,  unknown  and  at  a  distance 
as  they  were,  surrounded  by  a  brilliant  glamour.  Was 
there  not  a  certain  meanness  in  haggling  as  to  the  tax 
which  these  polite  placemen  and  their  superiors  might 
choose  to  exact ;  or  inquiring  narrowly  as  to  their  cre- 
dentials when  they  chose  to  exercise  authority  ?  The 
gracefid,  the  chivalrous,  the  poetic,  the  spirits  over 
whom  these  feelings  had  power,  were  sure  to  be  Tories. 
Democracy  w\as  something  rude  and  coarse ;  indepen- 
dence, —  what  was  it  but  a  severance  of  those  connec- 
tions of  which  a  colonist  ought  to  be  proudest  ?    It  was 


322  THE   LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1774 

an  easy  thing  to  be  led  into  taking  sides  against  notions 
like  these.  Hence,  when  the  country  rose,  many  a  high- 
bred, honorable  gentleman  turned  the  key  in  his  door, 
drove  down  his  line  of  trees  with  his  refined  dame  and 
carefully  guarded  children  at  his  side,  turned  his  back 
on  his  handsome  estate,  and  put  himself  under  the  shel- 
ter of  the  proud  banner  of  St.  George.  It  was  a  mere 
temporary  refuge,  he  thought ;  and  as  he  pronounced 
upon  '  Sam  Adams '  and  the  rabble  a  gentlemanly 
execration,  he  promised  himself  a  speedy  return,  when 
discipline  and  loyalty  should  have  put  down  the  ship- 
yard men  and  the  misled  rustics. 

"  But  the  return  was  never  to  be.  The  day  went 
against  them  ;  they  crowded  into  ships  with  the  gates 
of  their  country  barred  forever  behind  them.  They 
found  themselves  penniless  upon  shores  often  bleak  and 
barren,  always  showing  scant  hospitality  to  outcasts  who 
came  empty-handed,  and  there  they  were  forced  to  begin 
life  anew.  .  .  .  Gray,  Clarke,  Erving,  and  Faneuil, 
Royall  and  Vassall,  Fayerweather  and  Leonard  and 
Sewall,  families  of  honorable  note,  bound  in  with  all 
that  was  best  in  the  life  of  the  Province,  who  now  can 
think  of  their  destiny  unpitying  ?  "  ^ 

At  the  same  time,  the  victors  should  not  be  judged 
too  harshly.  Probably  no  unnecessary  cruelty  was  shown 
in  the  treatment  of  the  Loyalists.  The  struggle  was 
a  desperate  one,  the  parties  in  America  almost  equally 

1  A  page  or  two  here  has  been  quoted  from  the  writer's  Life  of  Sam- 
uel Adams,  American  Statesmen  Series.  The  sympathetic  reader  will 
find  very  interesting  the  article  by  Professor  M.  C.  Tyler,  "  The  Party 
of  the  Loyalists  in  the  American  Revolution,"  Am.  Hist.  Review,  vol. 
i.,  No.  1. 


1774J         HUTCHINSON'S  LAST  DAYS   IN  AMERICA.         323 

balanced  in  numbers  and  strength,  the  Whigs  setting 
forth  upon  a  plan  quite  untried,  with  no  prospect  at 
first  of  allies ;  while  the  Tories  had  with  them  all  the 
power  of  England.  The  conditions  were  not  unlilie 
those  of  the  English  Commonwealth  in  the  previous 
century,  when  two  sevenths  of  the  nation  faced  five 
sevenths  in  great  part  actively  hostile.  In  such  times 
severities  become  inevitable.  Necessity  drove  Cromwell 
and  the  Independents  to  be  bloody  and  quick  in 
Ireland,  to  break  Scotland  in  pieces  at  Dunbar  and 
Worcester,  to  despoil  and  drive  out  CathoHcs  and  Cav- 
aliers, till  the  story  of  England  gained  many  a  reddened 
page.  Only  so  could  their  cause,  could  their  own  lives, 
be  secured.  Not  less  critical  was  the  task  of  the  Fathers 
of  the  Revolution.  Ag-ain  and  ao^ain  before  the  war 
was  over  submission  seemed  inevitable,  and  might 
easily  have  come  to  pass,  had  not  the  best  strength  of 
the  Tories  been  driven  out.  After  the  war  was  over,  in 
the  chaotic  times  of  the  mutiny  of  the  Pennsylvania  line, 
Shays's  rebeUion,  and  the  Whiskey  Insurrection,  how 
easily  might  a  few  strong  men,  if  any  such  had  been  suf- 
fered to  remain,  have  swung  America  back  again  into 
subser\aence,  that  independence  being  utterly  thrown 
over  for  which,  through  seven  years,  there  had  been  such 
battles  and  sacrifices !  The  instinct  was  correct  which 
caused  the  Fathers  to  move  against  the  Tories  harshly, 
to  cast  them  out  at  the  outset,  and,  dming  aU  the  criti- 
cal early  years,  to  keep  them  from  returning.  Their 
confiscated  estates  went  to  supply  the  public  needs ;  the 
land  they  left  belonged  to  the  new  order  of  things  ;  and 
good  men  and  women  though  they  were  in  a  thousand 


324  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1774 

private  relations,  there  was  nothing  for  them,  and  neces- 
sarily nothing  for  them,  but  to  bear  their  expatriation 
and  poverty  with  such  fortitude  as  they  could  muster. 
It  should  not  be  overlooked  that  in  their  despoilment 
and  expatriation  the  lot  of  the  Tories  was  not  without 
compensations.  Vast  grants  were  made  to  them  by  the 
English  government  of  lands  in  Nova  Scotia,  New 
Brunswick,  and  western  Canada. 

As  Hutchinson  was  by  far  the  ablest  and  most  emi- 
nent of  his  party,  so  his  suffering  was  especially  sharp. 
His  name  was  held  to  be  a  stigma.  Hutchinson  Street 
in  Boston  became  Pearl  Street.  The  town,  Hutchinson, 
at  the  heart  of  the  Commonwealth,  cast  oft'  its  title  as 
that  "  of  one  who  had  acted  the  part  of  a  traitor  and 
parricide,"  substituting  for  it  that  of  Barre,  the  liberal 
champion  in  Parliament.  The  honorable  note  he  had 
reached  through  forty  years  of  self-denying,  wisely 
directed  public  service  was  blotted  out ;  for  generations 
he  was  a  mark  for  obloquy.  His  possessions,  even  to  the 
tomb  where  lay  his  wife  and  his  ancestors,  were  snatched 
from  him  and  his  children.^  He  became  in  England  a 
royal  pensioner.  But  for  this  charity,  the  man  who  for 
some  years  had  been  the  most  illustrious  personage  in 
America  might  have  died  in  want  in  the  streets  of 
London. 

^  Under  an  Act  of  1779  "  to  confiscate  the  estates  of  certain  notorious 
Conspirators  against  the  Government  and  liberties  of  the  late  Province," 
Hutchinson's  Boston  and  Milton  property  was  sold  for  £98,121  4s.  2ld., 
his  mansion-house  alone,  on  the  corner  of  Fleet  and  Hanover  streets,  bring- 
ing £33,500.  These  values  are  in  the  depreciated  currency  of  the  time. 
J.  T.  Hassam  :  "  Confiscated  Estates  of  Boston  Loyalists,"  in  Proceedings 
of  Mass.  Hist.  Soc,  May,  1895,  p.  163.  For  the  estate  in  detail,  see 
Appendix  D. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

THE    YEARS    OF    EXILE. 

Arriving  in  London,  Friday,  July  1st,  after  a  pleasant 
siunmer  passage,  Hutchinson  at  once  sought  out  Lord 
Dartmouth,  who,  after  near  an  hour's  conversation,, 
took  him  to  the  King.  "  I  was  not  dressed  as  expect- 
ing to  go  to  Court,  but  his  Lordship  observing  that  the 
Kino;  would  not  be  at  St.  James's  ao^ain  until  Wednes- 
day,  I  thought  it  best  to  go."  Contrary  to  custom  he 
was  admitted  to  the  King's  closet,  where  took  place  a 
conversation  of  nearly  two  hours.  Immediately  after 
the  interview  the  Governor  wrote  down  in  full  the  inci- 
dents, a  record  of  great  interest.^  One  wishes  he  had 
possessed  something  of  the  graphic  power  of  Peter 
Oliver,  his  companion  in  exile.  One  craves,  as  he  reads, 
some  picturing  of  the  King's  appearance  and  environ- 
ment. The  story,  however,  is  told  without  embellish- 
ment of  this  kmd,  though  as  regards  the  utterances 
both  of  the  King  and  the  Governor,  we  probably  re- 
ceive them  nearly  word  for  word. 

"  King.  How  do  you  do,  Mr.  H.,  after  your  voy- 
ao-e  ? 

" IIutchinso7i.  Much  reduced.  Sir,  by  sea-sickness; 
and  unfit  upon  that  account,  as  well  as  my  New  Eng- 
land dress,  to  appear  before  your  Majesty. 

1  Diary  and  Letters,  vol.  i.,  p.  157,  etc. 


326  THE  LIFE   OF   THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1774 

"  Lord  D.  observed,  '  Mr.  H.  apologized  to  me  for  his 
dress,  but  I  thought  it  very  well,  as  he  is  just  come 
ashoar,'  to  which  the  King  assented. 

"  K.  How  did  you  leave  your  government,  and  how 
did  the  people  receive  the  news  of  the  late  measures  in 
Parliament  ? 

"  II.  When  I  left  Boston  we  had  no  news  of  any 
Act  'of  Parliament,  except  the  one  for  shutting  up 
the  port,  which  was  extremely  alarming  to  people."  ^ 

Hutchinson  stated  his  conviction  that  no  Colony 
would  comply  with  the  request  to  close  its  ports.  When 
Dartmouth  took  out  of  his  pocket  the  addresses  to 
Hutchinson  from  the  merchants,  lawyers,  and  Episcopal 
clergy,  the  King  said  he  did  not  see  how  it  could  be 
otherwise,  and  expressed  the  belief  that  in  England 
there  had  been  universal  approval  of  Hutchinson's 
course.  For  himself,  he  declared  he  was  entirely  satis- 
fied with  it :  he  knew  what  the  Governor  had  faced, 
and  sympathized  with  him  in  his  sufferings,  particularly 
with  his  trouble  in  the  matter  of  the  letters.  They  then 
discussed  the  probabilities  as  to  how  the  letters  had 
been  obtained  and  forwarded.  The  King  expressing 
some  curiosity  as  to  Boston  men  whose  names  he  had 
heard,  the  Governor  gives  some  account  of  them.  He 
takes  pride,  evidently,  in  declaring  it  is  only  in  his  pub- 
lic character  that  he  has  been  the  mark  of  malevolence. 

1  Immediately  after  the  interview,  the  King  wrote  Lord  North  :  "  I 
have  seen  Mr.  Hutchinson,  late  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  and  am  now 
well  convinced  they  will  soon  submit.  He  owns  the  Boston  Port  Bill  has 
been  the  only  wise  and  effectual  method."  Lord  Mahon's  Hist.,  vol.  vi., 
appendix,  3d  ed.  The  King's  memory  was  treacherous.  Hutchinson 
neither  expresses  nor  implies  approval  of  the  Port  Bill. 


1774]  THE  YEARS  OF  EXILE.  327 

"  It  has  been  my  good  fortune,  Sir,  to  escape  any 
charges  against  me  in  my  private  character.  The  at- 
tacks have  been  upon  my  pubHck  conduct,  and  for  such 
things  as  my  duty  to  your  Majesty  required  me  to  do, 
and  which  you  have  been  pleased  to  approve  of.  I 
don't  know  that  any  of  my  enemies  have  complained  of 
a  personal  injury. 

"  K.    I  see  they  threatened  to  pitch  and  feather  you. 

"  H.  Tarr  and  feather,  may  it  please  your  Majesty  ; 
but  I  don't  remember  that  ever  I  was  threatened  with  it." 

He  goes  on  to  say  that  he  never  had  a  guard,  and 
always,  so  far  as  he  could,  put  a  bold  face  on,  in  the 
idea  that  a  betrayal  of  fear  would  encourage  violence. 
To  an  inquiry  as  to  his  home,  one  can  imagine  the 
w^armth  with  which  the  exile  replies,  "  It  has  a  pleasant 
situation,  and  most  gentlemen  from  abroad  say  it  has 
the  finest  prospect  from  it  they  ever  saw,  except  where 
great  improvements  have  been  made  by  art,  to  help  the 
natural  view."  In  a  magnanimous  way,  when  Hancock 
comes  up  in  the  conversation,  Hutchinson  corrects  an 
impression  the  King  has  formed  as  to  financial  irreg- 
ularities. The  King  having  referred  to  Gushing  as  a 
leader,  "A  Mr.  Adams,"  replies  Hutchinson,  "is  rather 
considered  as  the  opposer  of  government,  and  a  sort  of 
Wilkes  in  New  Enoland. 

"  K.    What  gave  him  his  importance  ? 

"  H.  A  great  pretended  zeal  for  liberty,  and  a  most 
inflexible  natural  temper.  He  was  the  first  that  pub- 
lickly  asserted  the  independency  of  the  Colonies  upon 
the  Kingdom,  or  the  Supreme  authority  of  it. 

"  K.  I  have  heard,  Mr.  H.,  that  your  ministers  preach 


328  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1774 

that  for  the  sake  of  promoting  liberty  or  the  pubhck 
good,  any  immorality  or  less  evil  may  be  tolerated. 

"  H.  I  don't  know,  Sir,  that  such  doctrine  has  ever 
been  preached  from  the  pulj^it ;  but  I  have  no  doubt 
that  it  has  been  publickly  asserted  by  some  of  the  heads 
of  the  party  who  call  themselves  sober  men,  that  the 
good  of  the  publick  is  above  all  other  considerations ; 
and  that  truth  may  be  dispensed  with,  and  immorality 
is  excusable,  when  this  good  can  be  obtained  by  such 
means. 

"  K.    That 's  strange  doctrine,  indeed." 

Hutchinson  having  explained  to  the  King  the  eccle- 
siastical situation  in  New  England,  and  that  he  himself 
was  a  dissenter,  the  King  said  :  — 

"  I  say,  Mr.  H.,  why  do  your  ministers  generally  join 
with  the  people  in  opj)Osition  to  the  government  ? 

"//.  They  are.  Sir,  dependent  upon  the  people. 
They  are  elected  by  the  people,  and  when  they  are  dis- 
satisfied with  them,  they  seldom  leave  till  they  get  rid 
of  them. 

"  K.  That  must  be  very  dangerous.  If  the  people 
oblige  them  to  concur  with  them  in  their  erroneous 
principles  on  government,  they  may  do  it  in  religion 
also,  and  this  must  have  a  most  fatal  tendency." 

To  the  King's  inquiry  as  to  the  increase  of  popula- 
tion, Hutchinson  rephes  that  in  Massachusetts  it  doubles 
every  twenty-five  years,  and  that  immigration  seeks  the 
milder  climate  of  the  South  rather  than  New  Eng- 
land. As  to  crops  and  the  natural  history  of  America, 
also,  the  King  is  set  right.  A  conversation  ensued  as 
to  the  peculiarities  of  Colonial  constitutions,  and  the 


1774]  THE  YEARS   OF  EXILE.  329 

comparative  disloyalty  of  the  populations.  The  succes- 
sion in  the  government  was  then  touched  upon,  Hutch- 
inson's family,  the  present  condition  and  prospects  of 
the  Indians,  —  the  talk  becoming'  desultory.  Both 
characters  appear  to  advantage  in  the  record,  —  two 
sensible,  well-meaning  men  discussing  in  the  best  tem- 
per important  topics.  George  III.  probably  has  never 
been  portrayed  with  more  agreeable  traits. 

Soon  after  reaching  London,  Hutchinson  wrote  as 
follows  to  an  old  neighbor  at  Milton,  James  Mur- 
ray : '  — 

"  London,  23rd  July,  1774. 

"  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  so  early  a  letter. 
You  will  find,  before  you  have  travelled  through  Car- 
dinal de  Retz,  an  observation  of  the  Prince  de  Conde, 
when  he  was  informed  of  the  abusive  chartjes  and  sus- 
picions  against  him,  —  that  the  authors  had  no  other 
ground,  except  that,  if  they  had  been  in  his  place,  they 
knew  that  they  would  have  done  themselves  what  they 
suspected  him  of  doing.  I  am  not  only  free  from  any 
share  in  the  three  Acts  of  Parliament,  but  I  am  also 
willing  to  own  that  they  are  so  severe,  that,  if  I  had 
been  upon  the  spot,  I  would  have  done  what  I  could  at 
least  to  have  moderated  them  ;  and,  as  to  the  first  of 
them,  I  have  all  the  encouragement  possible  to  hope 
and  believe,  that  my  being  here  will  be  the  means  by 
which  the  town  of  Boston  will  be  relieved  from  the 
distress  the  act  brings  upon  it,  more  speedily  and  ef- 
fectually than  it  otherwise  would  have  been.  Lord 
Dartmouth  has  more  than  once  assured  me  that  he  is 

1  Proceedings  of  Mass.  Hist.  Sac,  \o\.  v.,  p.  3G1,  January,  1862. 


330  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1774 

of  tlie  same  opinion,  and  that  he  should  have  been  glad 
to  have  seen  me  here,  if  he  had  no  other  reason  for  it 
than  that  alone.  I  wish  for  the  good  opinion  of  my 
countrymen,  if  I  could  acquire  it  without  disturbing 
the  peace  of  my  own  mind.  Those  persons  here  whom 
they  have  always  supposed  their  best  friends,  express 
themselves  as  favorably  of  my  conduct  as  those  who  are 
called  their  greatest  enemies  ;  and  Lord  Rockingham 
treats  me  with  as  much  politeness,  and  makes  as  high 
professions  of  esteem,  as  Lord  North.  Although  the 
town  is  said  to  be  empty,  my  whole  time  has  been  taken 
up  in  receiving  visits,  and  complying  Avith  invitations, 
from  persons  of  the  first  rank,  and  I  have  but  little 
other  opportunity  for  business ;  but,  after  next  week,  I 
hope  to  come  to  it." 

The  exile  was  keenly  sensitive  to  opprobrium,  and 
defends  himself  in  his  letters  and  sometimes  in  more 
formal  ways.     Speaking  of  his  Letter  Books,  he  says  :  — 

"  When  I  was  threatened  by  the  tea-mobs,  I  carried 
them  to  Milton,  and  when  I  was  obhged  to  retire  to  the 
Castle  upon  Gen.  Gage's  arrival,  it  did  not  come  into 
my  mind  where  I  had  put  them.  I  am  sure  there  is 
nothing  in  them  but  what  will  evidence  an  upright  aim, 
and  an  endeavour  to  keep  off  the  miseries  which,  in  spite 
of  my  endeavours,  a  few  men  have  brouglit  upon  the 
country ;  and  if  they  will  take  the  whole  of  them,  they 
will  find  an  uniform  plan  for  preserving  the  authority 
of  Parliament,  and  at  the  same  time  indulging  the 
Colonies  in  every  point  in  which  the  people  imagined 
they  were  aggrieved."  ^ 

'  July  28,  1775,  Diary  and  Letters,  vol.  i.,  p.  505. 


1774]  THE  YEARS   OF  EXILE.  331 

To  attacks  which  were  made  upon  him  by  the  Whigs 
in  ParHament,  he  repHed  by  a  formal  "  Vindication,"  in 
which  he  speaks  of  himself  in  the  third  person.  The 
paper  was  not  printed  then,  and  appears  now  for  the 
first  time  in  the  Diary.  It  is  a  document  full  of  clear- 
ness and  dignity,  and  has  much  interest  to  the  student 
of  our  Revolutionary  history.  A  passage  from  this 
follows :  — 

"  By  acts  of  fraud  and  violence  the  late  Governor 
Hutchinson's  most  private  papers  have,  at  different 
times,  come  into  the  possession  of  persons  disposed  to 
do  him  hurt,  who  for  that  purpose  have  published  de- 
tached parcells  of  them,  with  Comments  and  remarks, 
torturing  his  words  to  an  unnatural  sense  and  meaning, 
totally  different  from  what  they  were  intended  to  con- 
vey. It  is  nevertheless  now  asserted  that  no  one  fact 
has  ever  appeared  to  have  been  materially  misrepresented 
by  him,  nor  any  one  pro23osal  made  unfriendly  to  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  mankind  in  general,  or  tending 
to  take  from  the  Province,  of  which  he  w^as  governor, 
the  privileges  enjoyed  by  its  charter,  or  any  powers  or 
privileges  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  Colonies  which 
can  be  made  to  consist  with  their  relation  to  Parliament 
as  the  supreme  authority  of  the  British  dominions ;  nor 
has  it  been  shown  that  in  his  public  character  he  has 
interested  himself  in  controversies  or  disputes  wdtli  the 
people  of  his  Province  farther  than  the  posts  which 
he  sustained,  requii*ed  and  made  his  indispensable 
duty.  .  .  . 

"  To  a  person  long  acquainted  with  the  temper  and 
disposition   of  the  people,  it  was  easy  to  foresee  the 


332  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1774 

effects  of  the  Stamp  Act ;  and  although  Mr.  Hutchin- 
son never  doubted  the  authority  of  Parhament,  yet  he 
doubted  the  expediency  of  exercising  its  authority  in 
that  instance,  and  did  everything  within  his  sphere  to 
prevent  it,  by  representations  for  that  purpose  to  per- 
sons of  character  in  England.   .  .   . 

"  A  gentleman  in  England  had  procured  and  sent 
to  Boston  several  private  letters  from  Mr.  Hutchinson, 
all  but  one  before  he  came  to  the  Chair  ;  and  from 
Mr.  Oliver,  when  he  was  Secretary  of  the  Province,  to 
the  late  Mr.  Whately.  Every  fallacious  art  had  been 
used  to  raise  the  expectations  of  the  people,  to  inflame 
and  enrage  them,  before  the  contents  of  the  letters  were 
made  publick.  The  words  of  the  great  Roman  orator, 
though  in  a  case  not  exactly  similar,  may  be  used  with 
propriety  on  this  occasion,  '  Quis  enhn  unquain  qui 
pauhmi  niodo  honorum  consuetudinem  nosset,  lite- 
ras  ad  se  ab  amico  missas,  offensione  aliqua  interpo- 
sita  in  inedlum  protidlt,  pcdamque  recitavit  ?  Quid 
est  aliud  tollere  e  vita  vitce  societatem,  tollere  amico- 
rum  colloquia  absentiwn  f  Quam  midta  joca  solent 
esse  in  epistoHs,  quae  j^^olata  si  sint,  inep)ta  divul- 
ganda.'  ^  .  .  . 

"  The  great  charge  against  him  was  his  obstinate 
attachment  to  the  prerogative  of  the  Crown,  and  the 
authority  of  Parliament,  etc.   .  .  . 

^  What  man  even  slightly  acquainted  with  the  decencies  of  life  has 
ever  brought  forward  and  made  public  the  private  letters  sent  to  him  by 
friends,  because  there  has  been  some  occasion  for  offence  ?  What  else  is 
this  but  to  make  impossible  in  life  communication  with  one  another,  and 
the  exchange  of  thoughts  by  friends  ?  What  pleasantries  we  put  into 
our  letters,  which,  if  divulged,  seem  inept,  and  quite  unfit  to  be  spread 
abroad  ! 


1774]  THE  YEARS  OF  EXILE.  333 

"  Britain  and  its  Colonies  are  alike  dependent  upon 
the  supreme  authority  of  the  whole  empire.  The  King, 
Lords,  and  Commons  —  this  supreme  authority  appeared 
to  him  to  be  the  sole  bond  which  kept  the  several  parts 
of  the  empire  together.  If  any  way  could  be  found  to 
give  the  subjects  in  the  Colonies  the  same  proportion 
or  share  in  this  authority,  whether  as  members  of  one 
or  other  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  or  as  Electors  of 
the  Representatives  of  the  people,  he  has  ever  thought 
they  had  a  fair  claim  to  it.  If  their  local  circumstances 
made  any  distinction  necessary,  he  thought  they  had, 
for  that  reason,  a  stronger  claim  to  as  great  a  share  of 
legislative  authority,  within  each  Colony  respectively,  as 
can  consist  with  the  supreme  authority  of  Parliament, 
which  at  all  events  must  be  maintained  so  far  as  is  ne- 
cessary for  the  purpose  of  preventing  a  separation,  and 
preserving  the  peace  and  order  of  the  whole.  .  .  .  It  is 
a  remark  more  ancient  than  any  British  Colony  that 
'  Gubernatorum  vituperatio  populo  placet ; '  and  every 
Governor  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  for  near  a  century  past, 
has  by  experience  found  the  truth  of  it."  ^ 

The  evidence  afforded  by  the  "  Diary  and  Letters," 
made  up  of  the  records  kept  by  Hutchinson  himself 
during  his  life  in  England,  with  passages  penned  also 
by  his  companions,  Peter  Oliver,  the  Chief  Justice,  who 
shared  his  exile,  his  son  Elisha,  and  others,  go  to  show 
that  there  is  little  foundation  for  the  account  written 
by  John  Adams  to  William  Tudor  :  "  Hardened  as  had 
been  my  heart  against  him,  I  assure  you  I  was  melted 
at  the  account  I  heard  of  his  condition,  .  .  .  He  was 

'  Diary  and  Letters  of  Thomas  Hutchinson,  vol.  i.,  p.  576,  etc. 


334  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1776 

ridiculed  by  the  courtiers.  They  laughed  at  his  man- 
ners at  the  levee,  .  .  .  and  the  King's  turning  away 
from  him  with  his  nose  up."  ^  It  may  be  presumed  that 
the  company  whom  the  ajnbassador  of  newly  born  Amer- 
ica met  in  his  English  sojourn  would  not  be  likely  to 
give  a  flattering  account  of  the  impression  made  by  the 
old  Tory  chief.  His  reception  by  the  King  on  his  first 
arrival  has  already  been  detailed.  He  often  afterwards 
was  at  Court,  and  never  seems  to  have  been  treated 
otherwise  than  with  kindness  by  both  King  and  Queen. 
Through  Dartmouth  a  baronetcy  was  offered  him, 
which  he  declined  because  of  insufficient  means  to  sup- 
port the  title,  his  fortune  having  been  confiscated.^ 
He  was,  however,  handsomely  pensioned.  He  does 
indeed  write  under  date  of  February  16,  1776  :  "  We 
Americans  are  plenty  here  and  very  cheaji.  Some  of  us, 
at  first  coming,  are  apt  to  think  ourselves  of  importance, 
but  others  do  not  think  so  ;  and  few,  if  any  of  us,  are 
much  consulted  or  inquired  after."  No  doubt  as  time 
wore  on,  and  the  intensity  of  the  American  resistance 
exceeded  far  what  the  refugees  had  represented  it  would 
be,  discredit  fell  upon  their  judgment  to  some  extent ; 
but  as  far  as  the  Governor  was  concerned,  it  led  to 
no  unkindness  or  withdrawal  of  respect.  May  29,  of 
this  same  year,  he  jots  down  :  "  At  the  King's  levee. 
He  asked  me  if  I  did  not  think  the  weather  very  pleas- 
ing after  so  much  raw  disagreeable  weather.  I  said  I 
was  glad  of  the  raw  weather,  as  it  was  the  effect  of  a 
fair  wind.     But  he  said,  *  You  like  a  little  mixture.' 

1  Tudor  :  Life  of  Otis,  p.  431. 

2  Diary  and  Letters,  vol.  i.,  p.  221. 


1777]  THE   YEARS   OF  EXILE.  335 

'  Not  whilst  SO  important  a  service  depended  upon  a 
fair  wind.'  *  That  was  generous,'  he  said, '  but  now  you 
wish  to  have  a  little  news.'  "  Hutchinson  is  thinking; 
of  ships  on  the  w^ay  to  America  with  reinforcements.^ 
Again,  September  28,  1777  :  "  Mauduit  called  last  even- 
ing and  urged  me  against  my  inclination  to  go  to  court 
to-day.  The  Queen  asked  me  where  I  had  been.  I 
told  her  I  had  been  six  months  in  the  country  with  my 
sick  dauohter.  '  What  !  she  that  used  to  be  here  ? 
Why,  she  looked  fine  and  healthy.  I  hope  she  will  get 
well  aofain.'  "  ^ 

The  Governor  in  his  letters  and  diaries  is  seldom  pic- 
turesque, any  more  than  in  his  elaborate  history.  Peter 
Oliver  is  a  better  painter.  He  was  at  Court  with  the 
Governor,  January  18,  1777,  the  Queen's  birthday. 

"  I  went  to  Court,  and  here  appeared  brilliancy  in  its 
splendor.  Before  their  Majesties  appeared,  3  or  4  of 
the  young  Princes  were  introduced.  The  Prince  of 
Wales  exhibited  an  open,  sensible,  and  active  temper  ; 
Prince  Frederick,  the  Bishop  of  Osnaburgh,  is  a  fine 
youth  with  a  manly  sensible  behavior ;  one  of  the 
young  Princes,  abt  5  or  6  years  old,  behaved  very  gen- 
teelly, and  chatted  a  great  deal  with  the  foreign  ambas- 
sadors and  others.  Virgil's  '  Jam  nova  lyrocjenies^ 
recurred  to  the  mind. 

"  Their  Majesties  soon  entered  ;  the  King  was  richly 
dressed  in  honor  to  the  Queen,  and  was  very  polite  and 
affable  to  the  Company ;  the  Queen  appeared  in  the 
simplex  mwiditiis,  for  she  is  not  in  high  dress  on  her 
Birthday,  but  on  the  King's  Birthday  she  shines  with 

^  Diary  and  Letters,  vol.  ii.,  p.  59.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  158. 


336  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1778 

brilliance.  Her  Majesty  walked  round  and  conversed 
with  every  lady  ;  and  tlio'  she  is  not  a  perfect  beauty  as 
a  meer  object,  yet  her  sweet  temper,  her  royal  conde- 
scension, and  her  engaging  affability,  rivalled  the  charms 
of  Venus.  She  is  of  so  amiably  a  good  temper,  and 
adorned  with  so  much  virtue,  and  meddles  so  little  with 
public  affairs,  that  whenever  scandal  herself  recollects 
her  Majesty,  she  at  the  same  time  recollects  the  dlgito 
com2)resse  Jahellwn.'" 

Besides  the  royal  personages,  Hutchinson  was  on  in- 
timate terms  throughout  his  years  in  England  with 
people  of  note,  both  noble  and  of  lesser  rank.  The 
Earls  of  Dartmouth  and  Hillsboro,  with  whom  his 
abundant  correspondence  had  brought  about  a  connec- 
tion, received  him  into  friendship ;  as  did  also  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  the  Bishops  of  London  and  of 
Oxford,  Lord  Mansfield,  Lord  Hard  wick,  Lord  Lough- 
borough, and  Lord  Townshend.  To  Dartmouth  he  was 
especially  drawn,  from  similarity  of  views  both  in  poli- 
tics and  religion.  Mansfield,  too,  has  his  full  sympathy, 
his  humane  views  respecting  negro  slavery,  in  which 
the  great  Chief  Justice  prefigured  Wilberforce  and 
Clarkson,  winning  Hutchinson's  especial  approval. 

"Feb.  2,  1778,  at  Lord  Hillsborough's:  his  son, 
Lord  Fairford,  at  breakfast  with  him.  Talked  mth 
great  freedom  ;  said  he  and  I  had  always  thought  ex- 
actly alike ;  asked  what  those  members  of  Parlt.  could 
do  at  such  a  time,  when  they  did  not  approve  of  partic- 
ular measures,  and  yet,  in  general,  approved  the  design 
of  the  Ministry,  in  restoring  America  to  the  Empire  ? — 
the   present  Ministry,  tho'  feeble  and   irresolute,  was 


1778]  THE  YEARS  OF  EXILE.  337 

better  than  what  woukl  come  in  their  room  if  there 
should  be  a  change  ;  and  yet  it  was  difficult  to  vote 
for  what  was  directly  against  their  judgment ;  asked 
whether  Ld.  North  ever  consulted  me?  I  told  him 
No.  He  said  he  was  a  good  man,  but  apt  suddenly  to 
resolve  on  a  thing,  which  upon  second  thoughts  he  re- 
pented of,  and  intimated  that  to  be  the  case  when  he 
promised  to  lay  some  plan,  which  he  now  found  more 
difficult  than  he  expected.  .  .  .  Lord  Loudoun  ashed 
me  yesterday  at  Court  if  I  knew  Gates  ?  and  said, 
when  he  was  in  America,  he  was  the  laughing  stock 
of  the  army,  as  an  ignorant  nonsensical  fellow."  ^ 

Men  illustrious  in  other  ways  than  through  birth  seek 
out  the  exile. 

"  Mar.  24.  To  my  surprise  Dr.  Robertson  of  Edin- 
burgh came  in  about  noon.  I  had  corresponded  with 
him  in  America,  but  never  seen  him  before.  An  hour's 
converse  was  very  pleasing.  He  has  laid  aside  his  His- 
tory of  the  English  Colonies.  He  gave  this  reason  — 
that  there  was  no  knowing  what  would  be  the  future 
condition  of  them.  I  told  him  I  thought,  be  it  what  it 
may,  it  need  make  no  odds  in  writing  the  History  of 
what  is  past,  and  I  thought  a  true  state  of  them  ought 
to  be  handed  down  to  posterity.^ 

He  mentions  also  dining  with  Gibbon. 

Probably  no  distinction  which  Hutchinson  ever  at- 
tained was  more  valued  by  him  than  the  reception  of 
the  degree  Doctor  Civllis  Juris,  from  the  University  of 
Oxford  ;  and  it  is  a  coincidence  worth  noting  that  the 
honor  fell   to  him  on  the  day  when  his  country  took 

1  Diary  and  Letters,  vol.  ii.,  p.  182.  ^  /jj^/.^  p.  194. 


338  THE   LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1776 

what  seemed  to  him  the  irrevocable  phinge  toward  de- 
struction, July  4,  1776. 

"  Upon  a  message  from  the  Vice  Chancellor  we  at- 
tended at  the  publick  schools  at  11,  and  after  putting 
on  the  Doctor's  scarlet  gown,  band,  and  caj),  were  in- 
troduced by  the  Beadles  into  the  Theatre,  and  received 
by  Professor  Vansittart  who,  after  a  Latin  speech  com- 
plimentary, presented  separately  to  the  Vice  Chancellor, 
who  conferred  the  degree  of  Doctor,  in  Jure  Civili, 
honoris  causa,  and  thereupon  were  placed  in  the  Doc- 
tor's seats  at  the  side  of  the  Vice-Chancellor  ;  after 
which  a  Latin  speech  in  verse  was  delivered  by  one  of 
the  Students  in  praise  of  the  Spring;  another  in  jirose, 
elegant  and  much  applauded,  by  Mr.  Lowtli,  son  to  the 
Bishop  of  Oxford,  upon  Architecture ;  and  then  a  long 
Latin  comemoration  of  Benefactors  by  Mr.  Bandinelle, 
in  a  low  voice  and  lifeless,  being  his  first  performance 
as  University  Orator.  The  whole  ceremony  was  not 
over  until  two.  A  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Paradis, 
born  in  Thessalonia,  who  had  studied  many  years  at 
Oxford,  was  admitted  at  the  same  time,  and  one  other 
gentleman,  whose  name  I  have  forgot,  to  Doctors'  de- 
grees." Peter  OHver  received  the  degree  at  the  same 
time  ;  he,  too,  describes  the  scene,  telling  of  two  thou- 
sand spectators,  the  ladies  by  themselves  in  brilliant 
order,  the  theatre  a  most  noble  building,  with  an  ac- 
companiment of  music  orchestral  and  vocal.^ 

When  the  Declaration  of  Independence  reached  Eng- 
land, Hutchinson  reviewed  it  elaborately  in  a  "  Letter  to 
a  Noble  Lord,"  which  he  took  pains  should  come  under 

^  Diary  and  Letters,  vol.  ii.,  p.  75,  etc. 


1776]  THE   YEARS  OF  EXILE.  339 

the  eye  of  the  King.  The  document  (printed  in  Al- 
mon's  "  Remembrancer,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  25,  etc.),  though 
unsigned,  gives  indisputable  internal  evidence  of  its 
authorship.^  It  is  the  work  of  a  man  thoroughly  in- 
formed and  able,  whose  strictures  upon  the  generalities 
which  have  glittered  so  conspicuously  from  that  day  to 
tliis  are  often  telling.  No  point  is  better  made  than  the 
f  ollowino- :  — 

"  I  should  be  impertinent  if  I  attempted  to  shew  .  .  . 
in  what  sense  all  men  are  created  equal;  or  how  far 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  may  be  said 
to  be  unahenable  ;  only  I  could  wish  to  ask  the  delegates 
of  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  the  Carolinas  how  their  con- 
stituents justify  the  depriving  more  than  an  hundred 
thousand  Africans  of  their  rights  to  liberty  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness,  and  m  some  degree  to  their  Uves,  if 
these  rights  are  so  absolutely  unalienable."  His  active 
days  were  over,  but  this  paper  shows  that  his  powers  had 
undergone  no  decay,  a  fact  still  more  conclusively 
attested  by  the  third  volume  of  the  "  History  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,"  in  the  preparation  of  which  he  was  now 
engaged. 

October  31,  1776,  in  company  with  Peter  OHver, 
again  he  visits  the  House  of  Lords,  introduced  by  Lord 
Polworth.     Oliver  paints  the  scene  :  — 

"  This  day  I  went  to  the  House  of  Lords  to  hear  the 
King  deliver  his  speech  to  the  Parliament.  The  proces- 
sion was  grand,  his  Majesty  being  in  the  elegant  state- 
coach,  which  is  glazed  all  around,  and  the  body  elegantly 

^  That  Hntcliinson  was  the  author  is  also  the  opiniou  of  Dr.  George  E. 
Ellis.     See  Atlantic  Monthly,  vol.  Iviii.,  p.  5GG. 


340  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS   HUTCHINSON.  [1776 

gilt,  with  a  gilt  crown  on  the  top,  with  other  decora- 
tions, drawn  by  8  dun  horses,  the  finest  I  ever  saw,  and 
kept  in  such  order  that  their  skin  and  hair  appeared 
like  a  rich  velvet.  The  amazing  string  of  coaches,  and 
the  vast  crowd  of  spectators  in  the  streets  and  in  the 
windows  of  the  houses,  of  ladies  richly  dressed,  and  the 
groups  of  figures  from  the  first  gentlemen  to  the  lowest 
link-boy,  was  very  picturesque,  and  was  a  true  repre- 
sentation of  the  chequered  state  of  mankind ;  but  the 
whole,  united  with  the  apparent  joy  of  countenances, 
exhibited  an  idea  of  the  grandeur  and  importance  of  a 
British  Monarch. 

"  I  entered  the  House  of  Lords  under  the  umbras^e  of 
Lord  Polworth.  Without  the  Bar  of  the  House  it  was 
much  crowded,  but  within  was  a  grand  appearance  of 
the  nobility,  and  of  ladies  richly  dressed.  His  Majesty 
was  seated  on  his  throne  in  the  robes  of  royalty,  with 
his  rich  crown  upon  his  head.  He  then  directed  the 
attendance  of  the  House  of  Commons,  some  of  whom 
came,  preceded  by  their  Speaker,  who  also  was  preceded 
by  his  Mace  Bearer,  and  followed  by  his  Train  Bearer : 
he  was  richly  dressed  in  his  gold-laced  robes  and  made 
a  magnificent  appearance.  His  Majesty  then  delivered 
his  speech,  and  with  that  dignity,  propriety  of  accent 
and  pronunciation  that  commanded  attention  and  cre- 
ated esteem."  ^ 

It  is  quite  possible  that  Hutchinson  may  have  become, 
as  John  Adams  represents,  an  object  of  ridicule  to  some 
members  of  the  fine  society  of  which  he  saw  much ;  but 
if  so,  it  was  for  reasons   discreditable  rather  to  that 

1  Diary  and  Letters,  vol.  ii.,  p.  109. 


1776]  THE  YEARS  OF  EXILE.  341 

society  than  to  him.  Though  always  genial  and  tol- 
erant, as  these  pages  have  abundantly  illustrated,  he 
was  nevertheless  gravely  Puritan  in  all  his  tastes,  and 
while  his  condemnations  have  sometimes  a  touch  of  over- 
severity,  more  frequently  they  are  thoroughly  merited 
by  the  flippancy  or  vice  which  he  is  compelled  to 
encounter.  Amusements  in  general  have  no  attraction 
for  him.  The  opera,  the  races,  the  exhibitions  of  con- 
jurers are  tedious  or  offensive.  As  to  assemblies,  he 
finds  "  his  rehsh  for  such  things  enthely  over,  and  I  go 
only  to  avoid  being  singular."  He  sees  Garrick  in  the 
"  Beaux'  Stratagem  "  of  Farquhar  at  Drury  Lane,  with 
frank  dislike.  "  Either  he  is  too  old  for  such  a  charac- 
ter or  I  am  too  old  to  see  the  excellencies  which  draw 
such  crow^ds  after  him."  Each  Sunday  finds  him  at 
church,  where,  however,  the  Church  of  England  minis- 
trations are,  to  his  mind,  full  of  shortcomings.  Feb- 
ruary 26,  1775,  at  the  chapel  of  the  FoundHng  Hospi- 
tal, "  Sir  Charles  Whitworth  after  the  sermon  during  the 
anthem,  went  into  the  pulpit  to  the  Bishop  [of  Roches- 
ter] and  chatted  with  him  for  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  did 
not  leave  him  till  the  anthem  was  over,  and  the  Bishop 
was  standing  up  to  give  the  blessing.  Not  very  decent."  * 
June  16.  "  At  the  Temple  Church,  Mrs.  OHver  [Sarah] 
with  me.  Dr.  Morill  preached  from  Solomon's  Song  : 
'  The  singing  of  birds  is  come,'  &c.  A  florid  descrip- 
tion of  the  beauties  of  the  sjDring,  observing  that 
the  perfection  of  Art  w^as  its  approach  to  nature, 
the  imitation  of  which  was  necessary  ;  and  among  other 
instances,  mentioned  the  foliage  in   capitals  of  pillars 

1  Diary  and  Letters,  vol.  ii.,  p.  396. 


342  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1776 

—  tlie  festoons  —  without  which  they  appeared  naked ; 
and  the  beauties  of  the  roof  over  his  head  were  owing 
to  its  resemblance  of  the  branches  of  the  trees  of  the 
forest ;  and  he  descended  to  the  milkmaids,  who  would 
make  no  shew  without  a  Garland.  Less  of  religion 
could  not  well  be  in  a  sermon,  the  touches  upon  the 
wisdom  of  the  Creator  being  slight."  ^ 

While  the  finer  world  is  often  distasteful  to  him, 
democracy  is  as  hateful  as  it  was  in  Faneuil  Hall  and 
the  Old  South.  "  February  26,  1776.  Entered  Guild 
hall  with  Wilkes'  mob  ...  as  great  blackguards  as 
can  well  be  conceived,  and  seemed  ripe  for  a  riot.  .  .  . 
Never  was  so  near  Wilkes,  to  have  so  full  a  view  since 
I  have  been  in  England."  ^ 

The  Governor's  diary,  in  fine,  in  England,  is  a  pro- 
foundly pathetic  record,  that  of  a  man  broken-hearted 
by  his  expatriation  and  the  wreck  of  the  cause  to  which 
he  is  committed.  His  sons  Thomas  and  Elisha,  each 
with  a  wife  and  three  children,  his  daughter  Sarah  with 
Dr.  Peter  Oliver,  her  husband,  the  younger  daughter 
and  son,  "  Peggy "  and  "  Billy,"  were  all  dependent 
upon  him,  and  still  others,  until  his  family  numbered 
twenty-five.  He  is  glad  he  has  a  home  for  them,  when 
so  many  fellow-exiles  are  in  want.  His  thoughts  are 
constantly  turning  to  the  land  which  has  cast  him  out. 
At  Wimpole  Hall,  the  handsome  seat  of  Lord  Hard- 
wick,  his  exclamation  is  :  "  This  is  high  life,  but  I 
would  not  have  parted  with  my  humble  cottage  at 
Milton  for  the  sake  of  it."  ^ 

'  Diary  and  Letters,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  69,  70.  ^  Ihid.,  p.  21. 

3  Ihid.,  p.  290. 


1777]  THE  YEARS   OF  EXILE.  343 

"  New  England  is  wrote  upon  my  heart  in  as  strong 
characters  as  '  Calais '  was  upon  Queen  Mary's."  ^  He 
cannot  bear  the  thought  that  his  own  dust  shall  lie  in 
any  other  soil;  his  heart  is  always  reaching  out  toward 
the  land  and  the  people  that  have  spurned  him. 

"  London,  New  Bond  Strfet,  March  3,  1777. 
"  I  have  advantages  here  beyond  most  of  the  Ameri- 
cans, as  I  have  a  very  extensive  acquamtance  with  the 
best  people;  but  I  prefer  the  natale  solum  to  all  other: 
and  it  will  give  me  great  pleasure  to  hear  you  are  peace- 
ably settled  at  Brush  Hill,  and  that  I  may  as  peaceably 
settle  at  Unkity  Hill.^  I  hope  to  live  to  see  not  only 
my  Milton  neighbors,  but  the  people  of  the  Province  in 
general,  convinced  that  I  have  ever  sincerely  aimed  at 
their  true  interest ;  and  that  if  they  had  followed  my 
advice,  they  would  have  been  free  from  all  that  distress 
and  misery  which  the  envious,  restless  spirits  of  a  few 
designing  men  have  brought  upon  them.  I  have  been 
charged  in  America  with  false  and  unfavorable  repre- 
sentations of  the  people  there.  I  am  charged  here  with 
neglecting  to  give  advice  of  their  intentions  to  revolt, 
and  representing  the  body  of  the  people  as  disposed  to 
live  quietly  under  the  authority  of  Parliament,  and  to 
take  no  exception  to  any  other  acts  than  those  of  taxa- 
tion, which  I  ever  endeavored  to  discourage.  General 
Conway,  in  a  speech  last  session,  unexpectedly  to  me, 
gave  me  credit  for  it ;  and  Almon  has  printed  his 
speech  in  one  of  the  '  Remembrancers,'  though  he  en- 

1  Diary  and  Letters,  vol.  i.,  p.  283. 

2  The  Lidian  name  of  Milton  Hill. 


3M  THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1777 

larged  more  than  is  printed  on  the  subject  in  my  favor. 
I  send  you  one  of  the  books  (for  I  think  it  may  be  of 
service  to  have  it  known),  and  the  extract  in  the  papers. 
It  will  make  me  happier  still  if,  when  the  Colonies 
come  to  be  resettled,  —  as  I  hope  they  will,  —  I  may  be 
instrumental  in  securing  every  liberty,  which,  as  British 
subjects,  they  are  capable  of  enjoying."  He  goes  on  to 
speak  of  his  farms  at  Conanicut  and  Milton.  "  At  least 
£1100  was  taken  out  of  my  house  and  off  the  farm 
(Milton)  in  movables.  I  know  not  how  to  obtain  re- 
dress." He  speaks  of  Elisha's  coming  to  America,  and 
Peggy's  failmg  health.  "  I  say  nothing  about  pubHc 
affairs,  nor  do  I  ever  concern  myself  with  them  :  nor 
am  I  ever  inquired  of  or  consulted  about  them  ;  and  I 
am  glad  I  am  not.  It  is  astonishing,  considering  the 
immense  expense  of  this  war  and  the  stoj)  put  to  the 
American  trade,  that  nobody  seems  to  feel  it.  Every 
merchant  and  every  manufacturer,  except  a  few  who 
were  factors  for  America,  are  as  f uU  of  business  as  ever, 
and,  in  the  manufacturing  towns,  they  are  fuller  of 
business,  from  the  increase  of  demand  in  other  branches, 
than  before  the  American  war.  With  this  amazing  em- 
pire it  is  the  unhappy  case  of  my  poor  country  to  con- 
tend. May  God  Almighty  in  mercy  put  an  end  to  this 
contest. 

"  Y'  faithful,  humble  servt,         T.  H. 

"  James  Murray,  Esq.,  of  Milton,  in  Mass.  Bay. 
At  Newport,  R.  I."  i 

March  12  :  "  Governor  Pownal  having  lately  buried 
his  wife,  I  called  upon  him  to-day.     There  has  been  no 

^  Proceedings  Mass.  Hist.  Soc,  vol.  v.,  pp.  363,  364. 


1777]  THE  YEARS  OF  EXILE.  345 

visits  passed  for  two  years,  which  I  think  has  not  been 
my  fault."  ^ 

May  8,  as  to  Bristol :  "  I  think,  take  in  all  circum- 
stances, and  I  should  prefer  living  there  to  any  place  in 
England.  The  manners  and  customs  of  the  peoj)le  are 
very  like  those  of  the  people  of  New  England,  and  you 
might  pick  out  a  set  of  Boston  Selectmen  from  any  of 
their  churches." " 

August  20  :  "  It  is  said  everybody  believes  the  news 
of  Ticonderoga,  and  that  New  England  would  now 
be  the  object.  I  fear  the  destruction  of  poor  Boston. 
What  have  those  men  to  answer  for  who  have  broug-ht 
on  this  destructive  war  !  "  ^ 

As  this  year  advances,  troubles  both  domestic  and 
public  thicken  about  him.  His  beloved  youngest  daugh- 
ter, "  Peggy,"  who  captivated  a  few  years  before  young 
Lord  Fitzwilliam,  so  often  in  her  father's  confidence  as 
the  transcriber  of  his  most  important  letters,  dies  of  con- 
sumption, September  21.  "Her  breath  grew  shorter; 
The  last  words  she  said  were  to  Dr.  Oliver,  '  I  am 
dying,'  and  continued  speechless  and  but  little,  if  at 
all,  sensible  until  about  half  after  ten  p.  m.,  when  she 
expired." 

The  entries  here  are  full  of  the  heart-break,  and  in 
December  comes  in  the  news  of  Burgoyne's  surrender, 
which  produces  terrible  public  discouragement.  "  Most 
of  us  expecfto  lay  our  bones  here." 

"Mar.   19,  1778.     CaUed  on  Mr.  Ellis.'     Laments 

^  Diary  and  Letters,  vol.  ii.,  p.  144. 

2  Ihid.,  p.  148.  3  Ibid.,  p.  156. 

*  Welbore  Ellis,  Member  of  Parliament. 


346  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1779 

the  universal  despondency ;  should  not  wonder  if  this 
afternoon  the  Americans  were  acknowledged  Indepen- 
dent —  a  term  they  always  avoided  as  a  Religious  dis- 
tinction, but  will  always  boast  of  as  a  civil  character. 
After  all,  I  shall  never  see  that  there  were  just  grounds 
'  for  this  revolt.  I  see  that  the  ways  of  Providence  are 
mysterious,  but  I  abhor  the  least  thought  that  all  is  not 
perfect." 

October  22,  1779,  he  notes  great  depression  as  to 
public  affairs.  Danger  impends  from  the  fleets  of  both 
France  and  Spain,  with  both  which  nations  England  is 
at  war.  The  debt  is  becoming  enormous ;  Ireland  is  on 
the  verge  of  revolt ;  convulsions  are  impending  in  Eng- 
land. 

He  had  hoped  to  be  buried  in  his  native  land.  In 
an  affecting  letter,  soon  after  reaching  England,  he  had 
written  to  his  son  Thomas,  who  did  not  leave  Boston 
till  the  British  evacuation,  March,  1776,  directing  him 
to  remove  tenderly  the  remains  of  his  wife,  dead  for 
twenty-one  years,  from  Copp's  Hill  to  the  burying- 
ground  in  Milton .  A  tomb  was  to  be  arranged  and  the 
reinterment  accompHshed  at  night  by  a  friendly  sexton. 
The  son  was  charged  to  see  that  room  was  left  for  his 
father.     At  last,  however,  this  entry  is  encountered  :  — 

"  September  16,  1779.  Stopped  at  Croydon,  went 
into  the  chiu'ch,  and  looked  upon  the  grave  of  my  dear 
child ;  inquired  whether  there  was  room  for  me,  and 
was  informed  there  was." 

He  was  indeed  sinking  fast.  "  Billy,"  too,  always  the 
hopeless  one  of  the  family,  and  for  that  very  reason, 
perhaps,  especially  cherished,  was  nearing  his  end,  and 


1780]  THE  YEARS  OF  EXILE.  347 

at  the  same  time  Sarah,  Mrs.  OHver,  was  beginning  to 
droop. 

"  Feb.  1.  The  prospect  of  returning  to  America  and 
laying  my  bones  in  the  land  of  my  forefathers  for  four 
preceding  generations  and  if  I  add  the  mother  of  W.  H.' 
it  will  make  five,  is  less  than  it  has  ever  been.  God 
grant  me  a  composed  mind  submissive  to  his  will;  and 
may  I  be  thankful  that  I  am  not  reduced  to  those 
straits,  which  many  others  who  are  banished  are,  and 
have  been." 

"Billy"  died  on  February  20.  A  child  of  EHsha's 
died  on  June  25  ;  Sarah  died  on  the  28th.  The  daugh- 
ter and  the  grandchild,  however,  had  been  preceded. 
On  the  3d  of  June  death  had  come  to  the  Governor. 
In  the  strangely  smitten  household  the  son  Elisha  writes 
as  follows :  — 

"  The  Governor  slept  tolerably  well,  as  he  had  done 
for  several  nights  past ;  arose  as  usual  at  8  o'clock 
shaved  himself  and  eat  his  breakfast,  and  we  all  told 
him  that  his  countenance  had  a  more  than  healthy  ap- 
pearance, and  if  he  was  not  better,  we  had  no  reason  to 
conclude  that  he  had  lost  ground.  He  conversed  well 
and  freely  upon  the  riot  in  London  the  day  before  ^  and 
upon  different  subjects  till  the  time  for  going  out  in 
the  coach,  at  intervals  however  expressing  his  expecta- 
tions of  dying  very  soon,  repeating  texts  of  scripture, 
with  short  ejaculations  to  Heaven.  He  called  for  a 
shirt,  telling  Ryley,  his  servant,  that  he  must  die 
clean.  I  usually  walked  down  the  stairs  before  him, 
but  he  got  up  suddenly  from  his  chair,  and  walked  out 

*  William  Hutchinson,  his  first  American  ancestor. 
^  The  Gordon  riots. 


348  THE  LIFE   OF  THOMAS  HUTCHINSON.  [1780 

of  the  room,  leaving  the  Doctor  [Peter  OHver,  Jr.]  and 
I  behind.  We  went  into  the  room  next  the  road ; 
saw  him  whilst  he  was  walking  from  the  steps  of  the 
door  to  the  coach  (a  few  yds  distance)  hold  out  his 
hands  to  Ryley,  and  caught  hold  of  him,  to  whom  he 
said  *  Help  me ! '  and  appeared  to  be  fainting.  I 
went  down  with  the  Doctor.  The  other  servants  had 
come  to  support  him  from  falling,  and  had  got  him  to 
the  door  of  the  house.  They  lifted  him  to  a  chair  in 
the  Servants'  Hall  or  entrance  hall  into  the  house,  but 
his  head  had  fell,  and  his  hands  and  f[eet?],  his  eyes 
diste[nded  ?]  rolled  up.  The  Doctor  could  feel  no 
pulse  ;  he  applied  volatiles  to  his  nostrils,  which  seemed 
to  have  little  or  no  effect;  a  be[d?]  in  the  meantime 
was  bro't,  and  put  on  the  floor,  on  which  he  was  laid, 
after  which,  with  one  or  two  gaspes,  he  resigned  his 
soul  to  God  who  gave  it."  ^ 

He  was  buried  at  Croydon  on  the  9th  of  June.  It 
would  scarcely  be  possible  for  a  human  life  to  close 
among  circumstances  of  deeper  gloom.  He  and  his 
children,  to  be  sure,  were  not  in  want ;  his  balance  at 
his  banker's  was  .£6387  15s.  3d.  In  every  other  way 
utter  wreck  had  overtaken  his  family  and  himself.  His 
daughters  and  his  youngest  son,  dispirited,  dropped 
prematurely  at  the  same  time  with  him  mto  the  grave. 
The  prospects  of  the  elder  sons  seemed  quite  blasted. 
In  daily  contact  with  him,  a  company  of  LoyaHst  exiles, 
once  men  of  position  and  substance,  now  discredited 
and  disheartened,  were  in  danger  of  starvation.  The 
country  he   had  loved  had  nothing  for   him  but  con- 

^  Diary  and  Letters,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  353,  354. 


1780]  THE  YEARS  OF  EXILE.  349 

tumely.  To  a  man  like  Hutchinson  public  calamity 
would  cause  a  deeper  pang  than  private  sorrows.  No 
more  threatening  hour  for  England  has  probably  ever 
struck  than  the  hour  when  the  soid  of  this  man  passed. 
It  was  becoming  apparent  that  America  was  lost,  a 
rending  which  easily  might  be  fatal  to  the  empire,  and 
which  her  hereditary  enemies  Avere  hastening  to  make 
the  most  of.  To  America  herself  the  rending  seemed 
to  many  certain  to  be  fatal.  While  the  members  were 
thus  being  torn  away,  destruction  seemed  to  impend  at 
the  heart.  At  the  moment  of  the  death,  London  was 
at  the  mercy  of  the  mob  in  the  Gordon  riots.  The 
city  was  on  fire  in  many  places  ;  a  drunken  multitude 
murdered  right  and  left,  laying  hands  even  upon  the 
noblest  of  the  land.  Mansfield,  because  he  had  recom- 
mended to  the  mercy  of  a  jury  a  priest  arrested  for 
celebrating  mass,  saved  his  life  with  difficulty,  his  house 
with  all  his  possessions  going  up  in  conflagration.  The 
exile's  funeral  passed  on  its  way  through  smoke  and 
uproar  that  might  easily  have  been  regarded  as  the 
final  crash  of  the  social  structure.  No  one  foresaw  then 
what  was  immediately  to  come :  that  England  was 
to  make  good  her  loss  twice  over ;  that  America  was 
to  become  the  most  powerful  of  nations ;  that  the 
London  disorders  were  on  the  surface  merely  and  only 
transient.  In  Hutchinson's  latest  consciousness,  every 
person,  every  spot,  every  institution  dear  to  his  heart, 
must  have  seemed  to  be  overwhelmed  in  catastrophe. 
Such  was  the  end  of  a  life  thoroughly  dutiful  and 
honorable ! 


APPENDIX  A. 

FUENITURE  DESTROYED  OR  CARRIED   FROM  MY  HOUSE  AND 
LOST  THE  NIGHT  OF  THE  26TH  OF  AUGUST,  1765.1 

In  the  great  room  below. 

a  teatable  and  burnt  china  set  incompleat 

12  new  walnut  chairs  all  lost  except  some  bottoms 

a  large  walnut  table  3  10s  ;  a  handsome  couch  3  10s 

a  bed  and  pillar  for  the  couch  «fc  a  dozen  of  cushions 

stuffed  with  feathers  and  covered  with  striped  sattin 
2  large  family  pictures,  gilt  frames 

2  smaller  size,  my  grandfather  and  mother 

4  large  prints  newly  framed  and  glazed 
Andirons,  shovel  and  tongs,  brass 
large  turkey-carpet 
In  the  closet  Ih  doz.  china  plates 
a  case  of  china  handle  knives  &  forks 
14  china  dishes  for  table  service 
blue  and  white  tea  set  overplus  cups  &  teapot  with  silver 

nose 
Decanters  glasses  mugs  patty-pans  &  other  glass-ware 

3  doz  large  hard  metal  plates  5  large  dishes  not  in  com- 
mon use  lost  or  bent  up  and  spoilt 

2  glass  sconces  at  ye  side  of  the  mantle-piece 

a  large  looking-glass  cut  down  by  a  neighbor  &  saved 

In  the  Hall. 

2  large  sconces  with  arms  £12 

2  square  mahogany  tables  5  6  8  ;  2  smaller  4 

3  painted  oyl  cloths  36s ;  2  large  glazed  prints  2  10 
7  glazed  prints  2  10  ;  8  chairs  morocco  leather  9  10 

5  large  luster  (?)  on  the  mantle-piece  10  sterl. 

1  Mass.  Archiv.  {Colonial,  1724-1776),  vol.  vi.,  pp.  301-320. 


£ 

s. 

5  10 

11 

7 

14 

20 

16 

6 

4 

8 

7 

10 

4 

3 

8 

5 

5 

7 

3 

13 

3 

12 

9 

6 

4 

6 

11 

10 

3 

6 

352 


APPENDIX. 


handsome  andirons  shovel  «&;  tongs 

Dutch  tea-kettle  and  stand  &  jajianned  tea-chest 


In  the  buffett. 

2  very  large  rich  china  howls  delft  bowls  &  dishes  china 
chocolate  coffee  and  tea  cups  &  plates  at  least  in 
value  7 

carpet  cut  and  much  damaged  ,     2  10 


In  the  little  room. 

6  walnut  chairs  turkey  work  bottoms  &  1  great  P  (?)  9 

small  chairs  10s ;  very  handsome  table  48s  2 

walnut  desk  &  shelves  &  window  cushion  7 

round  table  18s  ;  polished  andirons  shovel  &c.  4  4 

a  large  sconce  mahogany  frame  6 
a  very  good  clock  both  clock  &  case  broke  to  pieces  & 

destroyed  12 

a  canvas  floor  cloth  new-painted  3 

l7i  the  Entry. 

a  dozen  very  good  cane  chairs  &  great  chair  6 

a  large  walnut  table  30s ;  a  large  hanging  Ian- 
thorn  &  small  lanthorn  50s  4         10 


18 

18 
13 


In  the  great  chamber. 

a  large  looking  glass  japanned  frame 

a  rich  crimson  damask  bed,  counterpin  window 
curtains  8  chairs  covered  backs  &  seats  with  the 
same  &  outside  covering  part  of  the  curtains 
only  saved,  lost  more  than 

a  rich  India  cabinet  very  little  used  with  3  stands 
of  wax-work  in  glasses 

a  chamber  fillegrain  dressing  glass  large  tor- 
toise shell  box  small  boxes,  brushes  &c.  for  a 
chamber  table 

furniture  for  another  table  of  carved  ivory  very 
neat  and  curious 

a  japanned  square  table 

a  small  table  &  toilet 

bedside  carpet 


12 


50 


38 


5 

3 

1 

12 


10 


APPENDIX.  353 

Andersons  30s  ;  coat  of  ai'ms  glazed  picture 

&c.  70s  5  ;  &  glass  sconce  120     2 

In  the  hall  chamber. 
a  very  good  glass  4 

handsome  case  of  draws  &  table  12 

crimson  boiled  (?)  camlet  bed  lined  with  silk    18 
8  cane  chairs  &  silk  cushions  6 

Andirons  1  41 

In  the  hack  chamber. 

Green  harrateen  (?)  bed  —  part  saved  3 

6  chairs  covered  backs  and  seats  w"^  camlet        2 
old  drawers  16 

In  my  lodging  chamber. 

chintz  bed  part  saved  3 

buroa  table  new  2  13  4 

small  table  1 

cane  chairs  &  harrateen  easy  chair  3  10 

Boxes  for  books  &  drawers  3  10 

Scotch  carpet  2  20  13 

In  the  Kitchen  Chamber. 

blew  and  white  camp  bed  part  saved  1  10 

a  small  sconce  15s ;  great  chair  camlet  back 

&  seat  25  2  3  10 

In  the  upper  entry. 

1  large  table  20s  ;  1  Oval  ditto  30s ;  1  pin- 

cerd  (?)  sideboard  table  40s  4  10 

In  the  chamber  over  great  chamber. 

Table  press  and  di'aws ;  large   turkey  work 
chairs  6 

In  the  cellar. 

12  pipes  &  4  quarter  cask  wine  2  pipes  only 

saved  «fe  part  of  (?)  lost 
10   pipes   very   good   Western    Island   wine 

11  6  8  113  6  8 

4  cask  of  sherry  at  6£  24 

In  bottles  Madeira  Sherry  claret  Fortenac  & 

white  wine  \\4th  cyder  &  bottles  none  saved 

value  more  than  20 

1  cwt  of  Pork  8  hams  about  a  dozen  chaps  (?) 

of  Bacon  &  other  provisions  at  least  6  13     4  164 


354  APPENDIX. 

Articles  not  appropriated  to  any  room. 

a  large  new  fashioned  silver  hilted  sword  gilt 
cost  6  guineas  —  blade  &  hilt  broke  to 
pieces  damage  3 

a  small   silver  hilted  sword  &  2  mourning 

swords  lost  4  10 

a   chased  gold  head  of  a   cane   &,  joint  4 

guineas  5  12 

gold  chain  &  hook  of  a  watch  cost  6  guineas  8     8 

microscope  cost  3  guins.   shaving  apparatus 

1  guin  4     4 

Telescope  razors  brush  &c.  22s  ;  a  set  of  plate 

buttons  besides  what  are  saved  £4  6     2 

a   rich  cradle  &   basket  with  lining  quilted 

sattin  &  set  of  laced  linnen  worth  more  than       14 

Eight  feather  beds  (two  or  three  only  of  the 
(?)  saved)  8  bedsteads  all  broken  to  pieces 
two  of  them  mahogany,  bed  cloaths,  &c.,  a 
gi'eat  part  wholly  destroyed  cannot  be  re- 
placed for  more  than  80 

a  very  large  damask  table  cloth  cut  to  pieces 
and  other  table  linnen  lost  and  destroyed 
I  conclude  8 

leather  &  sealskin  trunks  damaged  or  de- 
stroyed 6  138  16 

plate  lost  not  recovered 
a  dozen  of  silver  handle   knives  &  forks  & 

shagreen  case  4  or  5  only  retui-ned  damaged         7 
a  case  of  sweetmeat  knives   forks  &  spoons 

gilt  one  spoon  only  found  5  10 

Several  silver  spoons  &  tea  spoons  uncertain  6 

a  Quart  Tankard  10 

a  stand  of  castors  with  silver  tops  4 

a  large  handsome  cofPee  pot  top  found  beat 

up  or  as  the  mob  term  it  stamped  16 

damage  done  to  the  other  plate  16  164 

about  20  bushels  of  split  peas  &,  8  bags  de- 
stroyed 13 


APPENDIX.  365 

I  lost  in  money  of  which  I  am  certain  within 

a  few  shillings  I  suppose (?)  170  10 

I  had  received  in  my  office  deposited  for  the 

heirs  of  Richard  Gooding  which  remained 

in  my  hands  about  40  310  10 

belonging  to   the  province  of  the  ship  King 

George  money  uncertain  the  accounts  being 

in  the  bag  with  the  money  suppose  the  amt 

about  100 

I  had  in  apparel 

one  camlet  surtout  one  white  cloth  coat  and 
breeches  1  suit  of  Pompadour  cloth  one 
lapelled  corduroy  waistcoat  cost  in  London 
about  £18  sterlmg  very  little  worn  24 

1  suit  f  rench  grey  button  holes  wrought  with 
gold  and  gold  basket  buttons  cost  £13  ster- 
ling worn  but  a  few  times  17     6     8 

1  suit  mixed  dark  cloth  gold  holes  cost  about 
10  guineas  half  worn  7 

1  black  grey  suit  lined  with  ducape  silk  not 

much  worn  cost  about  8  guineas  8  10 

1  new  black  superfine  cloth  coat  7 

2  black  cloth  waistcoats  2  10 
1  laced  crimson   cloth  waistcoat  &  breeches 

very  little  worn  7  10 
1  velvet  crimson  waistcoat  &  breeches  not 

half  worn  5 

1  padusoy  coat  &  breeches  half  worn  6 

1  superfine  black  grey  coat  &  breeches  ^  worn  5 

1  Ratteen  banyon  (?)  velvet  cape  little  worn  3 

2  pr  black  cloth  1  knit  1  cotton  velvet  breeches  4 

2  white  callicoe  waistcoats  3 

1  old  coat  gold  holes  much  worn  1  10 

1  scarlet  Roquelaur  4  ;  1  scarlet  Robe  8  12 
1  black  silk  King's  Council  gown  3 

3  hats  £2  ;  1  wig  20s  3 
6  pr  kid  gloves  new ;  otlier  gloves  caps  ;  2  pr 

new   shoes ;    shoes    in   wear ;    whips,    &c. 
saddle  bags  portmanteau  &c.  6 


356  APPENDIX. 

1  doz  fine  hoUand  shirts  new  several  not 
worn  ruffled  cost  at  least  20 

8  or  10  fine  liolland  shirts  more  worn  besides 
old  shirts  &  some  stocks  handkerchiefs  wig 
bags  &c.  &c.  8 

above  a  dozen  pair  of  worsted  stockings  a 
dozen  cotton  silk  &  thredd  6 

Recovered  of  the  above  articles  159     6     8 


Camlet  surtout  £4  ;  white  breeches  40s  6 

Pompadour  coat  damaged  6 

grey  suit  worked  with  gold  damaged  15 
waistcoat  only  of  mixed  dark  cloth  2 

coat  only  of  black  grey  suit  4  10 

new  black  coat  7  ;  1  black  waistcoat  30s  8  10 

velvet   breeches   30s ;  padusoy   &  coat  torn 

to  pieces  3 

1  callico  waistcoat  30s  ;  scarlet  roqlaur  5  10 

scarlet  robe  £8  8 

about  10  shirts  &  stocks  10 
4  or  5  pr  of  hose  2  69  10 

remains  lost  89  16  08 

1225     6    8 
The  loss  in  books  &  sets  of  books  which  are 
broke  &  spoiled  &  damage  done  to  what 
are  recovered  cannot  be  estimated  less  than  50 


£1275     6    8 


The  following  articles  lost  by  my  sister  Miss  Sanford 
In  gold  received  a  day  or  two  before  of  the 

Treasurer  £220  —  «&  a  years  interest  233 

a  gold  chased  watch  chain  &  seal  21  guineas     29     8 
a  spinnet  8  guineas  £11  4  ;  Burrow  £3  14     4 

large  sealskin  trunk  ;  small  ditto  2 

Paist  necklace  &  earings  cost  2  Johannes  4  16 

Topaz  necklace  &  earings  set  in  gold  5 

white  stone  earings  French  necklace  &  earings     2 
greenstone  necklace  &  earings  2  french  neck- 
laces 2 


APPENDIX. 


357 


purple  stone  earings  black  necklac  &  earlngs 

Pair  of  stone  shoe  buckles  28s 

new  black  full  suit  of  best  english  padusoy 

a  sack  &  petticoat  of  striped  lustring 

a  sack  &  petticoat  of  India  padusoy 

a  Brocade  robe  &  petticoat 

a  Red  Genoa  damask  robe  &  petticoat 

a  striped  Lustring  robe 

a  Green  damask  robe 

a  clouded  gingham  robe 

a  chintz  do  &  a  worsted  &  silk  ditto 

2  very  handsome  gauze  suits  compleat 
1  suit  of  Mecklenburgh  lace 

3  gauze  caps  30s  ;  1  wide  lace  handkerchief  70s 
a  fine  laced  handkerchief  &  single  ruffles 
another  handkerchief   of   ye    same  &  double 

ruffles 
a  muslin  handkerchief  &  ruffles  lawn  ruffles 
a  flowered  lawn  handkerchief  &  fine  muslin 

apron 
a  (?)  stomacher  &  sleeve  knots 

3  fine  cambrick  handkerchiefs  40s  ;  1  embroid- 
ered apron 

4  pair  silk  &  fine  thread  mittens  &  gloves 

5  ivory  stick  fans  ribbands  flowers  &c. 

a  white  embroidered  handkerchief  &  stomacher 

1  holland  apron  10s ;  1  pr  new  silk  hose  20s  ;  2 
pr  cotton  hose  12s 

Dimity  waistcoats    20s  ;  brocaded  shoes  20s  ; 

calam  (?) 
a  scarlet  cloth  cloak  head  &  body  laced  with 

silver  entirely  ruined 

2  silk  cloaks  with  Ermine  ;  1  velvet  fringed 
1  purple  sattin  capuchin  silver  lace 

a  silk  tippet  a  cotton  ditto 

a  very  fine  camlet  riding  hood 


2 

1    8 
16 

8 
10 

8 
10 

6 

8 

4 

4 

6 
10 

5 

4 

6 
2 

3 
2 

3  10 

1  10 
4 

3 

2  2 

2    6 

12 
10 

8 

1 

4 


besides  many  small  articles  of  apparel  not  enu 
merated. 


459     4 


1734     9     8 


358  APPENDIX. 

My  two  claugliters  lost  the  following  articles 

one  striped  lustring  robe  &  petticoat  6  10 

a  brocaded  robe  &  petticoat  lined  with  silk  7  10 

a  rich  brocade  petticoat  (the  sack  damaged)  8           riding  dress 

a  fine  black  russet  quilt  new  3 

a  scarlet  riding  hood  laced  &  scarlet  petticoat  12 

a  fine  camlet  riding  hood  4£  ;  new  satin  cloak  8 

a  crimson  satin  hat  black  satin  jockey  ruined  1     5 
.a  pr  satin  shoes  silver  lace  30s ;  7  Ivory  stick 

fans  4  10 

Ribbands  &  stones  (?)  40s  ;  1  suit  blond  lace  5£  7 

1  pair  treble  ruffles  ;  mechlin  lace  &  tucker  3 
3  laced  fly  caps  2£ ;  1  pr  garnet  earings  & 

necklace  6 
1  necklace  with  earings  set  in  4  ;   gold  ruby 

stone  4 

1  pr  white  stone  earings,  1  ditto  3 
1  doz   strings  french  beads  10s  ;  Handkercfs 

&  ruffles  20s  1  10 

Lawn  handkerchiefs  &  2  pr  plain  ruffles  2  10 
Laced  muslin  handkerchief  40s  ;  double  ruffles 

30s  3  10 
one  corded  gawze  apron  16s  ;  1  lawn  do  worth 

36s  2  12 

dresden  work  for  aprons  40s  2 

6  pair  fine  cotton  stockings  32s  ;  umbrella  16s  2     8 

hoUand  shifts  £6  ;  tweezer  case  8s  6     8 

a  striped  lustring  sack  of  youngest  daughter  3  10 
a  clouded  burdet  (?)   petticoat  20s  ;  worsted 

hose  20s  2 
shoes  16s  ;    1  pr  white  silk  hose  20s ;  stone 

shoe  buckles  28s  3     4 
Girdle  buckle  stone  20s  ;  stone  drops  in  gold 

30s  2  10 
stone  buttons  in  do  20s ;  blue  &  white  gown  & 

petticoat  40s  ;  gingham  gown  30s  4  10 

a  pocket-book  glas  &c.  cost  ^  guinea  ;  do  10s  1     4 
their   mother's   head    cloths    ruffled   &   laced 

worth  more  than  12 

a  muff  &  tippet  cost  48s  ;  another  muff  12s  3                    116  11 


APPENDIX. 


359 


My  son  Thomas  gives  the  following  account 
of  the  loss  he  sustained 
1  suitout  coat,  2  13  4  ;  1  light  colored  cloth 

suit  £6  13  4 
1  new  corduroy  waistcoat 
1   black    padusoy    do    £1  15 ;    3     pr     cloth 

breeches  2  10 
1  pr  cotton  velvet  20s  ;  2  pr  worsted  16  8 
1  doz  holland  shirts  one  half  of  them  little  worn 
1  pr  Irish  shirting  25  yards  at  4s  4d 
6  pr  worsted  3  pr  cotton  hose 

3  pr  silk  do  £3  ;  5  pr  Thred  ditto  20s 

4  pr  shoes  ;  1  pr  spatterdashes  &  whip 

1  pr  silver  shoebuckles  15s  ;  Gold  rings  6  13  4 

2  silk  hair  bags,  stocks,  &  gloves 
1  pr  silk  gloves  not  worn  cost 
deduct  black  silk  waistcoat  returned 


Furniture  in  my  so  Thomas'  chamber 
1  walnut  desk  5£ ;  1  japan  table  £2  lOs 
1  walnut  table  24s  ;  8  cane  chairs  2  gt  chairs 
1  handsome    sconce   5s  ;    Metzotinto   pictures 

4  10  ;  curtains  valliants  &c.  4 
andirons,  shovel,  &  tongs 


9    6 

8 

2  13 

4 

4    5 

2    6 

8 

7 

5    8 

4 

2  16 

4 

1  10 

7    8 

4 

1  10 

12 

48  16 
1  15 

4 

47    1 

4 

7  10 

3 

8  10 

19 

money  in  his  desk  of  which  he  is  certain 


19  19 
146  18  19 


-166  17 


My  son  Elisha  Hutchinson 

lost 

1  superfine  cinamon  col'd  cloth  suit  little  worn 

8 

1  light  coloured  suit 

5 

1  suit  double  AUapeen 

6 

1  new  corduroy  wastcoat 

2  10 

1  ditto  little  worn 

1  10 

1  new  cloth  wastcoat 

2  10 

2  ditto  little  worn 

1  15 

1  pr  cloth  breeches 

12 

2  pr  worsted  patterns 

1 

360 


APPENDIX. 


6  pr  worsted  hose  1  16 

2  pr  silk  ditto  1 

2  pr  cotton  3  pr  Thred  ditto  19 

8  hoUand  sliirts  little  worn  6  13 

2  pr  shoes  2  pr  gloves  stocks  &c.  18 

3  gold  rings  1     4 
1  black  cloth  coat  new  6 

1  black  walnut  desk  6 

1  Table  &c.  1 
money  in  his  desk  of  wch  he  is  certain  110 

My  young  son  William  Sanford 

a  surtout  coat  2  13  4 ;  pr  breeches  16s  8d  2  10 
3  pr  new  cotton  hose  16s  ;  2  pr  worsted  10s        1     6 

2  pr  shoes  12 


164    7    4 


4    8 


Rebekah  Whitmore  housekeeper  lost 
4  new  shifts  cost  40s  ;  1  new  lawn  apron  18s       2  18 
1  muslin  apron  &  handkerchief  8s ;   1  pr  new 

shoes  6s  14 

1  muslin  apron  worn  6s  ;  2  holland  shifts  worn 

6s  8d  12    8 

1  pr  silver  buckles  9s  4d ;  1  stone  3s ;  1  red 

petticoat  6s  8d  19 

1  callico  gown  16s  ;  1  poplin  do  14s ;  1   satin 

bonnet  9s  4d  1  19     4 

1  red  cardinal  16s ;  1  capuchin  16s ;  Velvet 
hood  8s  2 

2  pr  kid  gloves  3s  4d  ;  3  pr  worsted  hose  6s  ; 

2  necklaces  4s  14 

3  fans  5s  ;  4   Ribbands   4s ;  Gloves   &   raits 

13s  4d  12    8 

1  cambrick  1  gauze  &  several  other  handker- 
chiefs 114 
^  yd  new  holland  3s ;  a  muff  6s  ;  1  dollor  &c. 

9s  18 

a  black  padusoy  gown  &  petticoat  part  foimd      4  10 


19    1 


APPENDIX.  361 

Susannah  Townsend  the  maid's  account 

4  shifts  40s  ;  1  plain  lawn  apron  13s  4d  2  13     4 
1  long  lawn  ditto  Gs  8d  ;  2  wliite   1  speckled 

do  9s  15     8 

1  pr  new  silk  mits  6s ;  1  new  bat  cost  12s  18 

2  hoUand  gowns  30s  ;  1  Gold  ring  12s  2     2 

a  13s  4d  Calamanco  shoes  6s  19     4 

Caps  handkerchiefs  10s ;  a  muff  8s  18  8     6     4 

Moses  Vose  the  coachman  lost 
one  new  striped  wastcoat  cost  17 

1  white  shirt ;  3  pr  stockings  &  1  dollar  1  10  2     7     0 

Mark  negro 
a  new  cloth  coat  32s  ;  an  old  coat  18s  ;  shirt  10s  3     0     0 

Mrs  Walker  a  widow  woman  to  whom  I  had 
allowed  a  living  in  the  house  several  years  lost 
a  feather  bed  4s  ;  large  glass  4 

Chintz  gown  21s  4d  ;  walnut  table  18s  1  19 

chamber  table  18s  ;  [rest  illegible  ;  comes  in  a 

worn  fold] 

3  pr  clogs  12s ;  1  pr  do  5s  4d ;  1  mortar  & 
pesttel 

3  chairs  9s  ;  3  glazed  pictures  4s 

a  cambrick  api-on  13s  4d  ;  4  holland  shifts  40s 

1  muslin  apron  10s  ;  4  good  handkercfs  20s 

2  pr  silk  hose  18s  ;  2  pr  cotton  6s 

3  pr  worsted  6s ;  2  pr  mits  2s 

5  aprons  of  Irish  holland  20s  ;  16  caps  13s  4d 

3  sheets  20s  ;  3  pillowbeers  4s 
damage  to  a  case  of  draws  6s ;  chest  8s 
muff  6s  8d  ;  3  Table  cloths  8s 

4  pr  cambrick  ruffles  6s ;  1  coffee  pot  2s  8d 
3  curtains 


Restored  in  money  by  persons  unknown 


1   1 

13 

2  13 

4 

1  10 

1  4 

8 

1  13 

4 

1  4 

14 

14 

8 

8 

8 

13 

4  24 

7(?) 

£2290 

16  6 

72 

15  0 

£2218 

1  6 

362  APPENDIX. 

If  any  of  the  articles  should  appear  to  be 
too  high  rated  others  may  be  as  low  in  propor- 
tion and  upon  the  whole  the  same  articles 
restored  would  be  as  valuable  to  me  as  the 
money.  There  are  lost  many  articles  which 
though  singly  too  small  to  particularize  yet 
when  taken  together  amount  to  a  large  sum. 

Tho.  Hutchinson. 

[In  a  number  of  pages  following  are  given  what  are  apparently 
the  rough  drafts  on  which  the  foregoing  inventoiy  is  based  ;  1st,  his 
own  things,  then  "  Ajjparel  belonging  to  Miss  Sanford,"  "Nurse's 
things,"  "  Walker's  tilings,"  "  Sally's  Cloathes  &  Peggy's," 
"  Billy's,"  "  Susy's."] 

[On  scraps  of  paper  the  following  entries  :] 

Books  sets  sjjoilt : 
Universal  History  cost 
Mozzay's  (?)  Hist,  of  France 
Harleian  Miscellany 
Cicero's  Works 
Lewis  15  (?) 
Magazines 


Middleton's  Cicero 

rich  wrought  satin  child  bed  blankets  sleeves  &  variety  of  child  bed 
linen,  satin  cradle  quilts  &  curtains  —  gawze  handkerchief  &  apron 
embroidered  with  gold  —  a  large  octavo  bible  very  richly  bound  &  in 
an  outside  leather  case  —  an  inscription  upon  one  leaf  from  Thomas 
Coram  Esq.  —  several  ancient  english  coins.  If  any  of  the  above 
articles  or  any  plate  men's  or  women's  apparel  be  offered  to  sale  by 
any  persons  or  seen  in  the  possession  of  any  persons  of  suspected 
characters  it  is  desired  notice  may  be  given  to  either  of  ye  L  G's  sons 

a  manuscript 

at  their  ware-houses  in  Boston  —  and  whereas  the  history  of  ye  prov- 
ince from  the  present  charter  to  ye  year  1750  was  among  the  spoil 
a  part  of  which  has  been  found  if  any  of  the  remaining  sheets  should 
be  discovered  it  is  desired  they  may  be  sent  together  with  any  other 
of  the  L.  G.'s  papers  or  books  to  the  Reverend  Mr.  Eliot. 


2  10 

4  14 

4 

10 

3    4 

20    4 

10 

APPENDIX.  363 

APPENDIX   B. 

SPEECH  OF  THE  GOVERNOR  TO  THE  TWO  HOUSES,  JANUARY  G, 

1773.1 

Gentlemen  of  the  Council,  and  Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, 

I  have  nothing  in  special  command  from  his  Majesty  to  hiy 
before  you  at  this  time  ;  I  have  general  instructions  to  recommend 
to  you,  at  all  times,  such  measures  as  may  tend  to  promote  that 
peace  and  order,  upon  which  your  own  happiness  and  prosperity,  as 
well  as  his  Majesty's  service,  very  much  depend.  That  the  govern- 
ment is  at  present  in  a  disturbed  and  disordered  state,  is  a  truth  too 
evident  to  be  denied.  The  cause  of  this  disorder,  appears  to  me 
equally  evident.  I  wish  I  may  be  able  to  make  it  appear  so  to  you, 
for  then,  I  may  not  doubt  that  you  will  agree  with  me  in  the  projDer 
measures  for  the  removal  of  it.  I  have  jjleased  myself,  for  several 
years  past,  with  hopes,  that  the  cause  would  cease  of  itself,  and 
the  effect  with  it,  but  I  am  disappointed ;  and  I  may  not  any  longer, 
consistent  with  my  duty  to  the  King,  and  my  regard  to  the  interest 
of  the  province,  delay  communicating  my  sentiments  to  you  upon  a 
matter  of  so  great  importance.  I  shall  be  explicit,  and  treat  the 
subject  without  reserve.  I  hope  yoii  will  receive  what  I  have  to  say 
upon  it,  with  candor,  and,  if  you  shall  not  agree  in  sentiments  with 
me,  I  promise  you,  with  candor,  likewise,  to  receive  and  consider 
what  you  may  offer  in  answer. 

When  our  predecessors  first  took  possession  of  this  plantation,  or 
colony,  under  a  grant  and  charter  from  the  Crown  of  England,  it 
was  their  sense,  and  it  was  the  sense  of  the  kingdom,  that  they  were 
to  remain  subject  to  the  supreme  authority  of  Parliament.  This 
appears  from  the  charter  itself,  and  from  other  irresistible  evidence. 
This  supreme  authority  has,  from  time  to  time,  been  exercised  by 
Parliament,  and  submitted  to  by  the  colony,  and  hath  been,  in  the 
most  express  terms,  acknowledged  by  the  Legislature,  and,  except 
about  the  time  of  the  anarchy  and  confusion  in  England,  which 
preceded  the  restoration  of  King  Charles  the  Second,  I  have  not 
discovered  that  it  has  been  called  in  question,  even  by  private  or 

*  The  text  followed  in  these  excerpts  is  that  of  the  Speeches  of  the  Governors 
of  Massachusetts  from  1705  to  1775,  ivith  the  Answers  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives to  the  Same.  etc.  Boston,  Russell  &  Gardner,  1818  (sometimes  referred  to 
as  Bradford's  State  Papers). 


364  APPENDIX. 

particular  persons,  until  within  seven  or  eight  years  last  past.  Our 
provincial  or  local  laws  have,  in  numerous  instances,  had  relation  to 
acts  of  Parliament,  made  to  respect  the  plantations  in  general,  and 
this  colony  in  particulai*,  and  in  our  Executive  Courts,  both  Juries  and 
Judges  have,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  considered  such  acts  as  part 
of  our  rule  of  law.  Such  a  constitution,  in  a  plantation,  is  not  i)ecul- 
iar  to  England,  but  agrees  with  the  principles  of  the  most  celebrated 
writers  upon  the  law  of  nations,  that  "  when  a  nation  takes  possession 
of  a  distant  country,  and  settles  there,  that  country,  though  separated 
from  the  princij^al  establishment,  or  mother  countiy,  naturally  be- 
comes a  part  of  the  state,  equally  with  its  ancient  possessions." 

So  much,  however,  of  the  spirit  of  liberty  breathes  through  all 
parts  of  the  English  constitution,  that,  although  from  the  nature  of 
government,  there  must  be  one  supreme  authority  over  the  whole, 
yet  this  constitution  will  admit  of  subordinate  powers  with  Legis- 
lative and  Executive  authority,  greater  or  less,  according  to  local 
and  other  circumstances.  Thus  we  see  a  variety  of  corjjorations 
formed  within  the  kingdom,  with  powers  to  make  and  execute  such 
by-laws  as  are  for  their  immediate  use  and  benefit,  the  members  of 
such  corporations  still  remaining  subject  to  the  general  laws  of  the 
kingdom.  We  see  also  governments  established  in  the  plantations, 
which,  from  their  separate  and  remote  situation,  require  more  gen- 
eral and  extensive  powers  of  legislation  within  themselves,  than 
those  formed  within  the  kingdom,  but  subject,  nevertheless,  to  all 
such  laws  of  the  kingdom  as  immediately  respect  them,  or  are 
designed  to  extend  to  them  ;  and,  accordingly,  Ave,  in  this  province 
have,  from  the  first  settlement  of  it,  been  left  to  the  exercise  of  our 
Legislative  and  Executive  powers.  Parliament  occasionally,  though 
rarely,  interposing,  as  in  its  wisdom  has  been  judged  necessary. 

Under  this  constitution,  for  more  than  one  hundred  years,  the 
laws  both  of  the  supreme  and  subordinate  authority  were  in  general, 
duly  executed  ;  offenders  against  them  have  been  brought  to  condign 
punishment,  peace  and  order  have  been  maintained,  and  the  people 
of  this  province  have  experienced  as  largely  the  advantages  of  gov- 
ernment, as,  perhaps,  any  people  upon  the  globe  ;  and  they  have, 
from  time  to  time,  in  the  most  public  manner  expressed  their  sense 
of  it,  and,  once  in  every  year,  have  offered  up  their  unitod  thanks- 
givings to  God  for  the  enjoyment  of  these  privileges,  and  as  often, 
their  united  prayers  for  the  continuance  of  them. 

At  length  the  constitution  has  been  called  in  question,  and  the 


APPENDIX.  365 

autlioi'ity  of  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  to  make  and  establish 
laws  for  tlie  inhabitants  of  this  province  has  been,  by  many,  denied. 
What  was  at  tirst  whispered  with  caution,  was  soon  after  openly 
asserted  in  print ;  and,  of  late,  a  number  of  inhabitants,  in  several 
of  the  principal  towns  in  the  province,  having  assembled  together  in 
their  respective  towns,  and  having  assumed  the  name  of  legal  town 
meetings,  have  passed  resolves,  which  they  have  ordered  to  be  placed 
upon  their  town  records,  and  caused  to  be  printed  and  published  in 
pamphlets  and  newsjiapers.  I  am  sorry  that  it  is  thus  become  im- 
possible to  conceal,  what  I  could  wish  had  never  been  made  public. 
I  will  not  particularize  these  resolves  or  votes,  and  shall  only  observe 
to  you  in  general,  that  some  of  them  deny  the  supreme  authority  of 
Parliament,  and  so  are  repugnant  to  the  principles  of  the  constitu- 
tion, and  that  others  speak  of  this  supreme  authority,  of  which  the 
King  is  a  constituent  part,  and  to  every  act  of  which  his  assent  is 
necessary,  in  such  terms  as  have  a  direct  tendency  to  alienate  the 
affections  of  the  people  from  their  Sovereign,  who  has  ever  been 
most  tender  of  their  rights,  and  whose  person,  crown,  and  dignity, 
we  are  under  every  possible  obligation  to  defend  and  support.  In 
consequence  of  these  resolves,  committees  of  correspondence  are 
formed  in  several  of  those  towns,  to  maintain  the  principles  upon 
which  they  are  founded. 

I  know  of  no  arguments,  founded  in  reason,  which  will  be  suffi- 
cient to  supjiort  these  princij^les,  or  to  justify  the  measures  taken  in 
consequence  of  them.  It  has  been  urged,  that  the  sole  power  of 
making  laws  is  granted,  by  charter,  to  a  Legislature  established  in 
the  province,  consisting  of  the  King,  by  his  representative  the  Gov- 
ernor, the  Council,  and  the  House  of  Representatives  ;  that,  by  this 
charter,  there  are  likewise  granted,  or  assured  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  province,  all  the  libei'ties  and  immunities  of  free  and  natural 
subjects,  to  all  intents,  constructions  and  purposes  whatsoever,  as  if 
they  had  been  born  within  the  realms  of  England  ;  that  it  is  part  of 
the  liberties  of  English  subjects,  which  has  its  foundation  in  nature, 
to  be  governed  by  laws  made  by  their  consent  in  person,  or  by  their 
representative  ;  that  the  subjects  in  this  province  are  not,  and  can- 
not be  represented  in  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  and,  conse- 
quently, the  acts  of  that  Parliament  cannot  be  binding  upon  them. 

I  do  not  find,  gentlemen,  in  the  charter,  such  an  expression  as 
sole  power,  or  any  words  which  import  it.  The  General  Court  has, 
by  charter,  fuU  power  to  make  such  laws,  as  are  not  repugnant  to 


366  APPENDIX. 

the  laws  of  England.  A  favorable  construction  has  been  put  upon 
this  clause,  when  it  has  been  allowed  to  intend  such  laws  of  England 
only,  as  are  expressly  declared  to  respect  us.  Surely  then  this  is, 
by  charter,  a  reserve  of  power  and  authority  to  Parliament  to  bind 
us  by  such  laws,  at  least,  as  are  made  expressly  to  refer  to  us,  and 
consequently,  is  a  hmitation  of  the  power  given  to  the  General  Court. 
Nor  can  it  be  contended,  that,  by  the  limits  of  free  and  natural 
subjects,  is  to  be  understood  an  exemption  from  acts  of  ParUament, 
because  not  represented  there,  seeing  it  is  provided  by  the  same 
charter,  that  such  acts  shaU  be  in  force  ;  and  if  they  that  make  the 
objection  to  such  acts,  wiU  read  the  charter  with  attention,  they 
must  be  convinced  that  this  grant  of  liberties  and  innnunities  is 
nothing  more  than  a  declaration  and  assurance  on  the  part  of  the 
Crown,  that  the  place,  to  which  their  predecessors  were  about  to 
remove,  was,  and  would  be  considered  as  part  of  the  dominions  of 
the  Crown  of  England,  and,  therefore,  that  the  subjects  of  the 
Crown  so  removing,  and  those  born  there,  or  in  their  passage 
thither,  or  in  their  passage  from  thence,  would  not  become  aliens, 
but  would,  throughout  all  parts  of  the  English  dominions,  wherever 
they  might  happen  to  be,  as  well  as  within  the  colony,  retain  the 
liberties  and  immunities  of  free  and  natural  subjects,  their  removal 
from,  or  not  being  born  within  the  realm  notwithstanding.  If  the 
plantations  be  part  of  the  dominions  of  the  Crown,  this  clause  in  the 
charter  does  not  confer  or  reserve  any  liberties,  but  what  would 
have  been  enjoyed  without  it,  and  what  the  inhabitants  of  every 
other  colony  do  enjoy  where  they  are  without  a  charter.  If  the 
plantations  are  not  the  dominions  of  the  Crown,  will  not  all  that  are 
born  here,  be  considered  as  born  out  of  the  liegeance  of  the  King  of 
England,  and,  whenever  they  go  into  any  parts  of  the  dominions, 
will  they  not  be  deemed  aliens  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  this  grant 
in  the  charter  notwithstanding  ? 

They  who  claim  exemption  from  acts  of  Parliament  by  virtue  of 
their  rights  as  Englishmen,  should  consider  that  it  is  impossible  the 
rights  of  English  subjects  should  be  the  same,  in  every  respect,  in 
all  parts  of  the  dominions.  It  is  one  of  their  rights  as  English  sub- 
jects, to  be  governed  by  laws  made  by  pei'sons,  in  whose  election 
they  have,  from  time  to  time,  a  voice  ;  they  remove  from  the  king- 
dom, where,  perliaps,  they  were  in  the  full  exercise  of  this  right,  to 
tlie  plantations,  where  it  cannot  be  exercised,  or  where  the  exercise 
of  it  would  be  of  no  benefit  to  them.    Does  it  follow  that  the  govern- 


APPENDIX.  367 

ment,  by  their  removal  from  one  part  of  the  doniiinons  to  another, 
loses  its  authority  over  that  part  to  which  tliey  remove,  and  that  they 
are  freed  from  the  subjection  they  were  under  before  ;  or  do  they 
expect  that  government  should  relinquish  its  authority  because  tliey 
cannot  enjoy  this  particular  right  ?  Will  it  not  rather  be  said,  that 
by  this,  their  voluntary  removal,  they  have  relinquished  for  a  time  at 
least,  one  of  the  rights  of  an  English  subject,  which  they  might, 
if  they  pleased,  have  continued  to  enjoy,  and  may  again  enjoy, 
whensoever  they  will  return  to  the  place  where  it  can  be  exercised  ? 

They  who  claim  exemption,  as  part  of  their  rights  by  nature, 
should  consider  that  every  restraint  which  men  are  laid  under  by  a 
state  of  government,  is  a  privation  of  part  of  their  natural  rights; 
and  of  all  the  different  forms  of  government  which  exist,  there  can 
be  no  two  of  them  in  which  the  departure  from  natural  rights  is 
exactly  the  same.  Even  in  case  of  representation  by  election,  do 
they  not  give  up  part  of  their  natural  rights  when  they  consent  to 
be  represented  by  such  person  as  shall  be  chosen  by  the  majority 
of  the  electors,  although  their  own  voices  may  be  for  some  other 
person  ?  And  is  it  not  contrary  to  their  natural  rights  to  be 
obliged  to  submit  to  a  representative  for  seven  years,  or  even  one 
year,  after  they  are  dissatisfied  with  his  conduct,  although  they 
gave  their  voices  for  him  when  he  was  elected  ?  This  must,  there- 
fore, be  considered  as  an  objection  against  a  state  of  government, 
rather  than  against  any  particular  form. 

If  what  I  have  said  shall  not  be  sufficient  to  satisfy  such  as  ob- 
ject to  the  supreme  authority  of  Parliament  over  the  plantations, 
there  may  something  further  be  added  to  induce  them  to  an  ac- 
knowledgment of  it,  which,  I  think,  will  well  deserve  their  con- 
sideration. I  know  of  no  line  that  can  be  drawn  between  the 
supreme  authority  of  Parliament  and  the  total  independence  of  the 
colonies  ;  it  is  impossible  there  should  be  two  independent  Legisla- 
tures in  one  and  the  same  state  ;  for,  although  there  may  be  but  one 
head,  the  King,  yet  the  two  Legislative  bodies  will  make  two 
governments  as  distinct  as  the  kingdoms  of  England  and  Scotland 
before  the  union.  If  we  might  be  suffered  to  be  altogether  inde- 
pendent of  Great  Britain,  could  we  have  any  claim  to  the  jjrotec- 
tion  of  that  government,  of  which  we  are  no  longer  a  part  ?  With- 
out this  protection,  should  we  not  become  the  prey  of  one  or  the 
other  powers  of  Europe,  such  as  should  first  seize  upon  us  ?  Is 
there  any  thing  which  we  have  more  reason  to  dread  than  inde- 


368  APPENDIX. 

pendence  ?  I  hope  it  never  will  be  our  misfortune  to  know,  by 
experience,  the  difference  between  the  liberties  of  an  English  col- 
onist, and  those  of  the  Spanish,  French,  or  Dutch. 

If,  then,  the  supremacy  of  Parliament  over  the  whole  British 
dominions  shall  no  longer  be  denied,  it  will  follow  that  the  mere 
exercise  of  its  authority  can  be  no  matter  of  grievance.  If  it  has 
been,  or  shall  be  exercised  in  such  way  and  manner  as  shall  appear 
to  be  grievous,  still  this  cannot  be  sufficient  ground  for  immediately 
denying  or  renouncing  the  authority,  or  refusing  to  submit  to  it. 
The  acts  and  doings  of  authority,  in  the  most  j^erfect  form  of  gov- 
ernment, will  not  always  be  thought  just  and  equitable  by  all  the 
parts  of  which  it  consists  ;  but  it  is  the  greatest  absurdity  to  admit 
the  several  parts  to  be  at  liberty  to  obey,  or  disobey,  according 
as  the  acts  of  such  authority  may  be  ajiproved,  or  disapproved  of 
by  them,  for  this  necessarily  works  a  dissolution  of  the  government. 
The  manner,  then,  of  obtaining  redress,  must  be  by  representations 
and  endeavors,  in  such  ways  and  forms,  as  the  established  rules  of 
the  constitution  prescribe  or  allow,  in  order  to  make  any  matters, 
alleged  to  be  grievances,  appear  to  be  really  such ;  but,  I  conceive 
it  is  rather  the  mere  exercise  of  this  authority,  which  is  complained 
of  as  a  grievance,  than  any  heavy  burdens  which  have  been  brought 
upon  the  people  by  means  of  it. 

As  contentment  and  order  were  the  happy  effects  of  a  constitu- 
tion, strengthened  by  universal  assent  and  ajjprobation,  so  discontent 
and  disorder  are  now  the  deplorable  effects  of  a  constitution,  enfee- 
bled by  contest  and  opposition.  Besides  divisions  and  animosities, 
which  disturb  the  peace  of  towns  and  families,  the  law  in  some  impor- 
tant cases  cannot  have  its  course  ;  offenders  ordered,  by  advice  of 
his  Majesty's  Council,  to  be  prosecuted,  escaj^e  with  impunity,  and 
are  supported  and  encouraged  to  go  on  offending ;  the  authority  of 
government  is  brought  into  contempt,  and  there  are  but  small 
remains  of  that  subordination,  which  was  once  very  consijicuous  in 
this  colony,  and  which  is  essential  to  a  well  regulated  state. 

When  the  bands  of  government  are  thus  weakened,  it  certainly 
behoves  those  with  whom  the  powers  of  government  are  entrusted, 
to  omit  nothing  which  may  tend  to  strengthen  them. 

I  have  disclosed  my  sentiments  to  you  without  reserve.  Let  me 
entreat  you  to  consider  them  calmly,  and  not  be  too  sudden  in  your 
determination.  If  my  principles  of  government  are  right,  let  us 
adhere  to  them.    With  the  same  principles,  our  ancestors  were  easy 


APPENDIX.  369 

and  liappy  for  a  long  course  of  years  together,  and  I  know  of  no 
reason  to  doul)t  of  your  being  equally  easy  and  liappy.  The  people, 
influenced  by  you,  will  desist  from  their  unconstitutional  principles, 
and  desist  from  their  irregulai'ities,  which  are  the  consequence  of 
them  ;  they  will  be  convinced  that  every  thing  which  is  valuable  to 
them,  depend  upon  their  connexion  with  their  parent  state  ;  that 
this  connexion  cannot  be  carried  in  any  other  way,  than  such  as  will 
also  continue  their  dependence  upon  the  supreme  authority  of  the 
British  dominions  ;  and  that,  notwithstanding  this  dependence,  they 
will  enjoy  as  great  a  proportion  of  those,  to  which  they  have  a  claim 
by  nature,  or  as  Englishmen,  as  can  be  enjoyed  by  a  plantation  or 
colony. 

If  I  am  ^vl'ong  in  my  principles  of  government,  or  in  the  infer- 
ences which  I  have  drawn  from  them,  I  wish  to  be  convinced  of 
my  error.  Independence,  I  may  not  allow  myself  to  think  that  you 
can  possibly  have  in  contemplation.  If  you  can  conceive  of  any 
other  constitutional  dependence  than  what  I  have  mentioned,  if  you 
are  of  opinion,  that  upon  any  other  pi'incijiles  our  connexion  with  the 
state  from  which  we  sprang,  can  be  continued,  communicate  your 
sentiments  to  me  with  the  same  freedom  and  unreservedness,  as  I 
have  communicated  mine  to  you. 

I  have  no  desire,  gentlemen,  by  any  thing  I  have  said,  to  pre- 
clude you  from  seeking  relief,  in  a  constitutional  way,  in  any  cases 
in  which  you  have  heretofore,  or  may  hereafter  suppose  that  you 
are  aggrieved  ;  and,  although  I  should  not  concur  with  you  in  senti- 
ment, I  will,  notwithstanding,  do  nothing  to  lessen  the  weight  which 
your  representations  may  deserve.  I  have  laid  before  you  what  I 
think  are  the  principles  of  your  constitution  ;  if  you  do  not  agree 
with  me,  I  wish  to  know  your  objections  ;  they  may  be  convincing 
to  me,  or  I  may  be  able  to  satisfy  you  of  the  insufficiency  of  them. 
In  either  case,  I  hope  we  shall  put  an  end  to  those  irregularities, 
which  ever  will  be  the  portion  of  a  government  where  the  supreme 
authority  is  controverted,  and  introduce  that  tranquillity,  which 
seems  to  have  taken  jjlace  in  most  of  the  colonies  upon  the  conti- 
nent. 

The  ordinary  business  of  the  session,  I  will  not  now  particularly 
point  out  to  you.  To  the  enacting  of  any  new  laws,  wliich  may  be 
necessary  for  the  more  equal  and  effectual  distribution  of  justice,  or 
for  giving  further  encouragement  to  our  merchandize,  fishery,  and 
agriculture,  which,  through  the  divine  favor,  are  already  in  a  very 


370  APPENDIX. 

flourishing  state,  or  for  promoting  any  measures,  which  may  conduce 
to  the  general  good  of  the  province,  I  will  readily  give  my  assent  or 
concurrence.  T.  Hutchinson. 


ANSWER    OF   THE   COUNCIL    TO    THE    SPEECH   OF    GOVERNOR 
HUTCHINSON  OF  JANUARY  6.    JANUARY  25,  1773. 

May  it  please  your  Excellency, 

The  Board  have  considei-ed  your  Excellency's  speech  to  both 
Houses,  with  the  attention  due  to  the  object  of  it ;  and,  we  hope, 
with  the  candor  you  were  pleased  to  recommend  to  them.  We 
thank  you  for  the  promise,  that,  "  if  we  shall  not  agree  with  you  in 
sentiment,  you  will,  with  candor,  likewise  receive  and  consider  what 
we  may  offer  in  answer." 

Your  speech  informs  the  two  Houses,  that  this  government  is  at 
present  in  a  disturbed  and  disordered  state ;  that  the  cause  of  this 
disorder  is  the  unconstitutional  principles  adopted  by  the  people,  in 
questioning  the  supreme  authority  of  Parliament ;  and  that  the 
proper  measure  for  removing  the  disorder,  must  be  the  substituting 
of  contrary  principles. 

Our  opinion  on  these  heads,  as  well  as  on  some  others,  proper 
to  be  noticed,  will  be  obvious,  in  the  course  of  the  following  obser- 
vations. 

With  regard  to  the  present  disordered  state  of  the  government, 
it  can  have  no  reference  to  tumults  or  riots ;  from  which  this  gov- 
ernment is  as  free  as  any  other,  whatever.  If  your  Excellency 
meant,  only,  that  the  province  is  discontented,  and  in  a  state  of 
uneasiness,  we  should  entirely  agree  with  you  ;  but  you  wiU  permit 
us  to  say,  that  we  are  not  so  well  agreed  in  the  cause  of  it.  The 
uneasiness,  which  was  a  general  one,  throughout  the  colonies,  be- 
gan when  you  inform  us,  the  authority  of  Parliament  was  first 
called  in  question,  viz.  about  seven  or  eight  yeai's  ago.  Your 
mentioning  that  particular  time,  might  have  suggested  to  your  Ex- 
cellency the  true  cause  of  the  origin  and  continuance  of  that  un- 
easiness. 

At  that  time,  the  stamp  act,  then  lately  made,  began  to  operate  ; 
which,  with  some  preceding  and  succeeding  acts  of  Parliament,  sub- 
jecting the  colonies  to  taxes,  without  their  consent,  was  the  original 
cause  of  all  the  uneasiness  which  has  happened  since  ;  and  has  also 
occasioned  an  inquiry  into  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  authority, 


APPENDIX.  371 

by  which  they  were  made.  The  hite  town  meetings  in  several  towns, 
are  instances  of  both.  These  are  mentioned  by  your  Excellency,  in 
proof  of  a  disordered  state.  But,  though  we  do  not  approve  of  some 
of  their  resolves,  we  think  they  had  a  clear  right  to  instruct  their 
Representatives  in  any  subject  they  apprehended  to  be  of  sufficient 
importance  to  require  it ;  which  necessai'ily  implies  a  previous  con- 
sideration and  expression  of  their  minds  on  that  subject,  however 
mistaken  they  may  be  concerning  it. 

When  a  community,  great  or  small,  think  their  rights  and  privi- 
leges infringed,  they  will  express  their  uneasiness  in  a  variety  of 
ways  ;  some  of  which,  may  be  highly  improper  and  criminal.  So  far 
as  any  of  an  atrocious  nature  have  taken  place,  we  would  express 
our  abhorrence  of  them  ;  and,  as  we  have  always  done,  hitherto,  we 
shall  continue  to  do  every  thing  in  our  power,  to  discourage  and  sup- 
press them.  But  it  is  in  vain  to  hope  that  this  can  be  done  effectu- 
ally, so  long  as  the  cause  of  the  uneasiness  exists.  Your  Excellency 
^^^ll  perceive  that  the  cause  you  assign,  is,  by  us,  suj^posed  to  be  an 
effect,  derived  from  the  original  cause,  above  mentioned  ;  the  re- 
moval of  which,  will  remove  its  effects. 

To  obtain  this  removal,  we  agree  with  you  in  the  method  pointed 
out  in  your  speech,  where  you  say,  "the  manner  of  obtaining  redress 
must  be  by  representation,  and  endeavors,  in  such  ways  and  forms 
as  the  constitution  allows,  in  order  to  make  any  matters  alleged  to 
be  grievances,  appear  to  be  really  such. 

This  method  has  been  pursued  repeatedly.  Petitions  to  Par- 
liament have  gone  from  the  colonies,  and  from  this  colony  in  partic- 
ular ;  but  without  success.  Some  of  them,  in  a  former  Ministry, 
were  previously  shewn  to  the  Minister,  who,  as  we  have  been  in- 
formed, advised  the  Agents  to  postpone  presenting  them  to  the 
House  of  Commons,  till  the  first  reading  of  the  bill  they  referred 
to ;  when,  being  presented,  a  rule  of  the  House  against  receiving 
petitions  on  money  bills,  was  urged  for  rejecting  them,  and  they 
were  rejected,  accordingly ;  and  other  petitions,  for  want  of  for- 
mality, or  whatever  was  the  reason,  have  had  the  same  fate.  This 
we  mention,  not  by  way  of  censure  on  that  honorable  House,  but  in 
some  measure  to  account  for  the  conduct  of  those  persons,  who, 
despairing  of  redress,  in  a  constitutional  way,  have  denied  the  just 
authority  of  Parliament ;  con'cerning  which,  we  shall  now  give  our 
own  sentiments,  intermixed  with  observations  on  those  of  your 
Excellency. 


372  APPENDIX. 

You  are  pleased  to  observe,  that  when  our  predecessors  first  took 
possession  of  this  colony,  under  a  grant  and  charter  from  the  Crown 
of  England,  it  was  their  sense,  and  the  sense  of  the  whole  kingdom, 
that  they  were  to  remain  subject  to  the  supreme  authority  of  Par- 
liament ;  and  to  prove  that  subjection,  the  greater  part  of  your 
speech  is  employed. 

In  order  to  a  right  conception  of  this  matter,  it  is  necessary  to 
guard  against  any  improper  idea  of  the  term  supreme  authority. 
In  your  idea  of  it,  your  Excellency  seems  to  include  unlimited  au- 
thority ;  for,  you  are  pleased  to  say,  that  you  know  of  no  line  which 
can  be  drawn  between  the  supreme  authority  of  Parliament,  and  the 
real  independence  of  the  colonies.  But  if  no  such  line  can  be  drawn, 
a  denial  of  that  authority,  in  any  instance  whatever,  implies  and 
amounts  to  a  declaration  of  total  independence.  But  if  supreme 
authority,  includes  unlimited  authority,  the  subjects  of  it  are  em- 
phatically slaves ;  and  equally  so,  whether  residing  in  the  colonies, 
or  Great  Britain.  And,  indeed,  in  this  respect,  all  the  nations  on 
earth,  among  whom  government  exists  in  any  of  its  forms,  would  be 
alike  conditioned,  excepting  so  far  as  the  mere  grace  and  favor  of 
their  Governors  might  make  a  difference,  for  from  the  nature  of 
government  there  must  be,  as  your  Excellency  has  observed,  one 
supreme  authority  over  the  whole. 

We  cannot  think,  that  when  our  predecessors  took  possession  of 
this  colony,  it  was  their  sense,  or  the  sense  of  the  kingdom,  that 
they  Avere  to  remain  subject  to  the  supreme  authority  of  Parlia- 
ment in  this  idea  of  it.  Nor  can  we  find,  that  this  appears  from 
the  charter ;  or,  that  such  authority  has  ever  been  exercised  by 
Parliament,  submitted  to  by  the  colony,  or  acknowledged  by  the 
Legislature. 

Supreme,  or  unlimited  authority,  can  with  fitness,  belong  only  to 
the  Sovereign  of  the  universe  ;  and  that  fitness  is  derived  from  the 
perfection  of  his  nature.  To  such  authority,  directed  by  infinite 
wisdom  and  infinite  goodness,  is  due  both  active  and  passive  obe- 
dience ;  which,  as  it  constitutes  the  happiness  of  rational  creatures, 
should,  with  cheerfulness,  and  from  choice,  be  unlimitedly  paid  by 
them.  But,  this  can  be  said  with  truth,  of  no  other  authority  what- 
ever. If,  then,  from  the  nature  and  end  of  government,  the  su- 
preme authoi'ity  of  every  government  is  limited,  the  supreme  au- 
thority of  Parliament  must  be  limited ;  and  the  inquiry  will  be,  what 
are  the  limits  of  that  authority,  with  regard  to  this  colony  ?     To  fix 


APPENDIX.  373 

them  with  precision,  to  determine  the  exact  lines  of  right  and  wrong 
in  this  case,  as  in  some  others,  is  difficult ;  and  we  have  not  the  pre- 
sumption to  attempt  it.  But  we  humbly  hope,  that,  as  we  are 
personally  and  relatively,  in  our  public  and  private  capacities,  for 
ourselves,  for  the  whole  province,  and  posterity,  so  deeply  interested 
in  this  important  subject,  it  will  not  be  deemed  arrogance  to  give 
some  general  sentiments  upon  it,  especially  as  your  Excellency's 
speech  has  made  it  absolutely  necessaiy. 

For  this  purpose,  we  shall  recur  to  those  records  which  contain 
the  main  principles  on  which  the  English  constitution  is  founded  ; 
and  from  them  make  such  extracts  as  are  pertinent  to  the  subject. 

Magna  Charta  declares,  that  no  aid  shall  be  imposed  in  the  king- 
dom, unless  by  the  Common  Council  of  the  kingdom,  except  to  re- 
deem the  King's  person,  &c.  And  that  all  cities,  boroughs,  towns, 
and  ports,  shall  have  their  liberties  and  free  customs  ;  and  shall 
have  the  Common  Council  of  the  kingdom,  concerning  the  assess- 
ments of  their  aids,  except  in  the  cases  aforesaid. 

The  statute  of  the  34th  of  Edward  I.  de  tallio  non  concedendo, 
declares,  that  no  tallage  or  aid  should  be  laid  or  levied  by  the  King 
or  his  heirs,  in  the  realm,  without  the  good  will  and  assent  of  the 
Archbishops,  Bishops,  Earls,  Barons,  Knights,  Burgesses,  and  others, 
the  freemen  of  the  commonalty  of  this  realm.  A  statute  of  the  25th 
P^dward  III.  enacts,  that  from  thenceforth,  no  person  shall  be  com- 
pelled to  make  any  loans  to  the  King,  against  his  will,  because  such 
loans  were  against  reason  and  the  franchise  of  the  land. 

The  petition  of  rights  in  the  3d  of  Charles  I.  in  which  are  cited 
the  two  foregoing  statutes,  declares,  that,  by  those  statutes,  and  other 
good  laws  and  statutes  of  the  realm,  his  Majesty's  subjects  inherited 
this  freedom,  that  they  should  not  be  compelled  to  contribute  to  any 
tax,  tallage,  aid,  or  other  like  charge,  not  set  by  common  consent  of 
Parliament. 

And  the  statute  of  the  1st  of  WiUiam  III.  for  declaring  the  rights 
and  liberties  of  the  subject,  and  settling  the  succession  of  the  Crown, 
declares,  that  the  levying  of  money  for,  or  to  the  use  of  the  Crown, 
by  pretence  of  prerogative,  without  grant  of  Parliament  for  longer 
time,  or  in  any  other  manner  than  the  same  is,  or  shall  be  granted, 
is  illegal. 

From  these  authorities,  it  appears  an  essential  part  of  the  English 
constitution,  that  no  tallage,  or  aid,  or  tax,  shall  be  laid  or  levied 
without  the  good  will  and  assent  of  the  freedom  of  the  commonalty 


374  APPENDIX. 

of  the  realm.  If  tins  could  be  done  without  their  asficnt,  their 
^iroperty  would  be  in  the  highest  degree  precarious  ;  or  rather  they 
could  not,  with  fitness,  be  said  to  have  any  property  at  all.  At  best, 
they  would  be  only  the  holders  of  it  for  the  use  of  the  Crown,  and 
the  Crown  be  the  real  proprietor.  This  would  be  vassalage  in  the 
extreme,  from  which  the  generous  nature  of  Englishmen  have  been 
so  abhorrent,  that  they  have  bled  with  freedom  in  defence  of  this 
part  of  their  constitution,  which  has  preserved  them  from  it ;  and 
influenced  by  the  same  generosity,  they  can  never  view  with  disap- 
probation, any  lawful  measures  taken  by  us  for  the  defence  of  our 
own  constitution,  which  entitles  us  to  the  same  rights  and  privileges 
with  themselves.  These  were  derived  to  us  from  common  law, 
which  is  the  inheritance  of  all  his  Majesty's  subjects  ;  have  been 
recognized  by  acts  of  Parliament,  and  confirmed  by  the  province 
charter,  which  established  its  constitution  ;  and  which  charter,  has 
been  recognized  by  acts  of  Parliament  also.  This  act  was  made  in 
the  second  year  of  the  reign  of  his  late  Majesty  George  II.  for  the 
better  preservation  of  his  Majesty's  woods  in  America,  in  which  is 
recited  the  clause  of  the  charter,  reserving  for  the  use  of  the  royal 
navy,  all  trees  suitable  for  masts ;  and  on  this  charter  is  grounded 
the  succeeding  enacting  clause  of  the  act ;  and  thus  is  the  charter 
implicitly  confirmed  by  act  of  Parliament.  From  all  which  it  ap- 
pears, that  the  inhabitants  of  this  colony  are  clearly  entitled  to  all 
the  rights  and  privileges  of  free  and  natural  subjects  ;  which  certainly 
must  include  that  most  essential  one,  that  no  aid  or  taxes  be  levied 
on  them,  without  their  own  consent,  signified  by  their  Representa- 
tives. 

But,  from  the  clause  in  the  charter,  relative  to  the  power  granted 
to  the  General  Court,  to  make  laws  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  of 
England,  your  Excellency  draws  this  inference,  that  surely  this  is, 
by  charter,  a  reserve  of  power  and  authority  to  Parliament,  to  bind 
us  by  such  laws,  at  least,  as  are  made  to  refer  to  us,  and  consequently 
is  a  limitation  of  the  power  given  to  the  General  Court.  If  it  be 
allowed,  that,  by  that  clause  there  was  a  reserve  of  power  to  Parlia- 
ment, to  bind  the  province,  it  was  only  by  such  laws  as  were  in  being 
at  the  time  the  charter  was  granted ;  for,  by  the  charter,  there  is 
nothing  appears  to  make  it  refer  to  any  parliamentary  laws,  that 
should  be  afterwards  made  ;  and  therefore,  it  will  not  support  your 
Excellency's  inference. 

The  grant  of  jjower  to  the  General  Court   to   make  laws,  runs 


APPENDIX.  375 

thus  —  "  full  powev  and  authority,  from  time  to  time,  to  make  and 
ordain,  and  establish,  all  manner  of  wholesome  and  reasonable  laws, 
orders,  statutes  and  ordinances,  directions  and  instructions  ;  either 
with  penalties  or  without,  so  as  the  same  be  not  repugnant  or  con- 
trary to  the  laws  of  this  our  realm  of  P^ngland,  as  they  shall  judge 
to  be  for  the  good  and  welfare  of  our  said  province."  We  humbly 
conceive  an  inference  very  diffei*ent  from  your  Excellency's,  and  a 
very  just  one  too,  may  be  drawn  from  this  clause,  if  attention  be 
given  to  the  description  of  the  orders  and  laws  that  were  to  be  made. 
They  were  to  be  wholesome,  reasonable,  and  for  the  good  and  wel- 
fare of  the  province  ;  and  in  order  that  they  might  be  so,  it  is  pro- 
vided, that  they  be  not  repugnant  or  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the 
realm,  which  were  then  in  being ;  by  which  proviso,  all  the  liberties 
and  immunities  of  free  and  natural  subjects  within  the  realm,  were 
more  effectually  secured  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  province,  agreeable 
to  another  clause  in  the  charter,  whereby  those  liberties  and  immu- 
nities are  expressly  granted  to  them  ;  and  accordingly,  the  power  of 
the  General  Court  is  so  far  limited,  that  they  shall  not  make  orders 
and  laws  to  take  away  or  diminish  those  liberties  and  immunities. 

This  construction  appears  to  us  a  just  one,  and  perhaps  may  ap- 
joear  so  to  your  Excellency,  if  you  will  please  to  consider,  that,  by 
another  part  of  the  charter,  effectual  care  was  taken  for  preventing 
the  General  Assembly  passing  of  orders  and  laws  repugnant  to,  or 
that  in  any  way  might  militate  with  acts  of  Parliament  then  or  since 
made,  or  that  might  be  exceptionable  in  any  other  respect  whatever ; 
for  the  charter  reserves  to  his  Majesty  the  appointment  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, whose  assent  is  necessary  in  the  passing  of  aU  orders  and 
laws  ;  after  which,  they  are  to  be  sent  to  England,  for  the  royal 
approbation  or  disallowance  ;  by  which  double  control,  effectual  care 
is  taken  to  prevent  the  estabUshment  of  any  improper  orders  or 
laws,  whatever.  Besides,  your  Excellency  is  sensible  that  letters 
patent  must  be  construed  one  part  with  another,  and  all  the  parts 
of  them  together,  so  as  to  make  the  whole  harmonize  and  agree. 
But  your  Excellency's  construction  of  the  paragraph  empowering 
the  General  Court  to  make  orders  and  laws,  does  by  no  means 
harmonize  and  agree  with  the  paragraph  gi-anting  liberties  and  im- 
munities ;  and  therefore,  we  humbly  conceive,  is  not  to  be  admitted  : 
whereas  on  the  other  construction,  there  is  a  perfect  harmony  and 
agreement  between  them.  But  supposing  your  Excellency's  infer- 
ence just,  that  by  said  former  paragraph,  considered  by  itself,  are 


376  APPENDIX. 

reserved  to  Parliament,  power  and  authority  to  bind  us  by  laws 
made  expressly  to  refer  us,  does  it  consist  with  justice  and  equity, 
that  it  should  be  considered  a  part,  and  urged  against  the  people  of 
this  province,  with  all  its  force,  and  without  limitation  ;  and  at  the 
same  time,  the  other  paragraph,  which  they  thought  secured  to  them 
the  essential  rights  and  privileges  of  free  and  natural  subjects,  be 
rendered  of  no  validity  ? 

If  the  former  paragraph  (in  this  supposed  case)  be  binding  on 
this  people,  the  latter  must  be  binding  on  the  Crown,  which  thereby 
became  guarantee  of  those  rights  and  privileges,  or  it  must  be  sup- 
posed that  one  party  is  held  by  a  compact,  and  the  other  not ;  which 
supposition  is  against  reason  and  against  law  ;  and  therefore,  destroys 
the  foundation  of  the  inference.  Supposing  it  well  founded,  however, 
it  would  not  from  thence  follow,  that  the  charter  intended  such  laws 
as  should  subject  the  inhabitants  of  this  province  to  taxes  without  their 
consent ;  for  (as  it  appears  above)  it  grants  to  them  all  the  rights 
and  liberties  of  free  and  natural  subjects  ;  of  which,  one  of  the 
most  essential  is,  a  freedom  from  all  taxes  not  consented  to  by 
themselves.  Nor  could  the  parties,  either  grantor  or  grantees,  in- 
tend such  laws.  The  royal  grantor  could  not,  because  his  grant 
contradicts  such  intention,  and  because  it  is  inconsistent  with  every 
idea  of  royalty  and  royal  wisdom,  to  grant  what  it  does  not  intend  to 
grant.  And  it  will  be  readily  allowed,  that  the  grantees  could  not 
intend  such  laws  ;  not  only  on  account  of  their  inconsistency  with 
the  grant,  but  because  their  acceptance  of  a  charter,  subjecting  them 
to  such  laws,  would  be  voluntaiy  slavery. 

Your  Excellency  next  observes,  "  that  it  cannot  be  contended, 
that,  by  the  liberties  of  free  and  natural  subjects,  is  to  be  under- 
stood an  exemption  from  acts  of  Parliament,  because  not  repre- 
sented there,  seeing  it  is  provided  by  the  charter,  that  such  acts 
shall  be  in  force.'"  If  the  observations  we  have  made  above,  and 
our  reasoning  on  them  be  just,  it  will  appear,  that  no  such  provision 
is  made  in  the  charter ;  and,  therefore,  that  the  deductions  and  in- 
ferences derived  from  the  supposition  of  such  provision,  are  not  well 
founded.  And  with  respect  to  representation  in  Parliament,  as  it 
is  one  of  the  essential  liberties  of  free  and  natural  subjects,  and 
properly  makes  those  who  enjoy  it,  liable  to  parliamentary  acts,  so 
in  reference  to  the  inhabitants  of  this  province,  who  are  entitled  to 
all  the  liberties  of  such  subjects,  the  impossibility  of  their  being  duly 
represented  in   Parliament,  does  clearly  exempt  them  from  all  such 


APPENDIX.  377 

acts,  at  least,  as  have  been  or  shall  be  made  by  Parliament,  to  tax 
them  ;  representation  and  taxation  being,  in  our  opinion,  constitu- 
tionally inseparable. 

This  grant  of  liberties  and  immunities,  your  Excellency  informs 
us,  "  is  nothing  more  than  a  declaration  and  assurance  on  the  part 
of  the  Crown,  that  the  place  to  which  our  predecessors  were  about 
to  remove,  was,  and  would  be  considered,  as  part  of  the  dominions 
of  the  Crown  ;  and,  therefore,  that  the  subjects,  so  removing,  would 
not  become  aliens,  but  would,  both  without  and  within  the  colony, 
retain  the  liberties  and  innnunities  of  free  and  natural  subjects." 

The  dominion  of  the  Crown  over  this  country,  before  the  arrival 
of  our  predecessors,  was  merely  ideal.  Their  removal  hither, 
realized  that  dominion,  and  has  made  the  country  valuable  both  to 
the  Crown  and  nation,  without  any  cost  to  either  of  them,  from  that 
time  to  this.  Even  in  the  most  distressed  state  of  our  predecessors, 
when  they  expected  to  be  destroyed  by  a  general  conspiracy  and 
incursion  of  the  Indian  natives,  tliey  had  no  assistance  from  them. 
This  grant  then  of  liberties,  which  is  the  only  consideration  they 
received  from  the  Crown,  for  so  valuable  an  acquisition  to  it,  instead 
of  being  violated  by  military  power,  or  expl9,ined  away  by  nice  in- 
ferences and  distinctions,  ought  in  justice,  and  with  a  generous  open- 
ness and  freedom,  to  be  acknowledged  by  every  Minister  of  the 
Crown,  and  preserved  sacred  from  every  species  of  violation. 

"  If  the  plantations  be  part  of  the  dominions  of  the  Crown,  this 
clause  in  the  charter,  granting  liberties  and  immunities,  does  not," 
your  Excellency  observes,  ''  confer  or  reserve  any  liberties  but 
what  would  have  been  enjoyed  without  it ;  and  what  the  inhabit- 
ants of  every  other  colony  do  enjoy,  where  they  are  without  a 
charter."  Although  the  colonies,  considered  as  part  of  the  domin- 
ions of  the  Crown,  are  entitled  to  equal  liberties,  the  inhabitants 
of  this  colony,  think  it  a  happiness,  that  those  liberties  are  con- 
firmed and  secured  to  them  by  a  charter ;  whereby  the  honor  and 
faiih  of  the  Crown  are  pledged,  that  those  liberties  shall  not  be 
violated.  And  for  protection  in  them,  we  humbly  look  up  to  his 
present  Majesty,  our  rightful  and  lawful  Sovereign,  as  children  to 
a  father,  able  and  disposed  to  assist  and  relieve  them ;  humbly  im- 
ploring his  Majesty,  that  his  subjects  of  this  province,  ever  faith- 
ful and  loyal,  and  ever  accounted  such,  till  the  stamp  act  existed, 
and  who,  in  the  late  war,  and  upon  all  other  occasions,  have  dem- 
onstrated  that   faithfulness    and    loyalty,    by   their    vigorous    and 


378  APPENDIX. 

unexampled  exertions  in  liis  service,  may  have  their  grievances 
redressed,  and  be  restored  to  their  just  rights. 

Your  Excellency  next  observes,  "  that  it  is  impossible  the  rights 
of  English  subjects  should  be  the  same  in  every  respect,  in  all  parts 
of  the  dominions,"  and  instances  in  the  right  of  "  being  governed 
by  laws  made  by  persons,  in  whose  election  they  have  a  voice." 
When  "  they  remove  from  the  kingdom  to  the  plantations,  where 
it  cannot  be  enjoyed,"  you  ask,  "  will  it  not  be  said,  by  this  volun- 
tary removal,  they  liave  relinquished,  for  a  time  at  least,  one  of 
the  rights  of  an  English  subject,  which  tliey  might,  if  they  pleased, 
have  continued  to  enjoy,  and  may  again  enjoy,  whenever  they  will 
return  to  the  place  where  it  can  be  exercised  ?  " 

"When  English  subjects  remove  from  the  kingdom  to  the  jilanta- 
tions,  with  their  property,  they  not  only  relinquish  that  right  de 
facto,  but  it  ought  to  cease  in  the  kingdom  de  jure.  But  it  does 
not  from  thence  follow,  that  they  relinquish  that  right  in  reference 
to  the  plantation  or  colony,  to  which  they  remove.  On  the  con- 
trary, having  become  inhabitants  of  that  colony,  and  qualified  ac- 
cording to  the  laws  of  it,  they  can  exercise  that  right,  equally  with 
the  other  inhabitants  ,of  it.  And  their  right,  on  like  conditions, 
will  travel  with  them  through  all  the  colonies,  wherein  a  Legisla- 
ture, similar  to  that  of  the  kingdom,  is  established.  And  there- 
fore, in  this  respect,  and,  Ave  sujipose,  in  all  other  essential  resjjects, 
it  is  not  impossible  the  rights  of  English  subjects  should  be  the  same 
in  all  parts  of  the  dominions,  under  a  like  form  of  Legislature. 

This  riglit  of  representation,  is  so  essential  and  indisputable, 
in  regard  of  all  laws  for  levying  taxes,  that  a  peojile  under  any 
form  of  government,  destitute  of  it,  is  destitute  of  freedom  :  of  that 
degi^ee  of  freedom,  for  the  preservation  of  which,  government  was 
instituted  ;  and  without  which,  government  degenerates  into  des- 
potism. It  cannot,  therefore,  be  given  up,  or  taken  away,  without 
making  a  breach  in  the  essential  rights  of  nature. 

But  your  Excellency  is  pleased  to  say,  "  that  they  who  claim 
exemption  as  part  of  their  rights  by  nature,  sliould  consider  that 
every  restraint  which  men  are  laid  under  by  a  state  of  govern- 
ment, is  a  privation  of  part  of  their  natural  rights.  Even  in  case 
of  representation  by  election,  do  they  not  give  up  part  of  their 
natural  rights,  when  they  consent  to  be  represented  by  such  pei'- 
sons  as  shall  be  chosen  by  the  majority  of  the  electors,  although 
their  own  voices  may  be  for   some  other  person  ?     And  is  it  not 


APPENDIX.  379 

contrary  to  their  natural  rights,  to  be  obliged  to  submit  to  a  repre- 
sentation for  seven  years,  or  even  one  year,  after  they  are  dissatis- 
fied with  his  conduct,  although  they  gave  their  voices  for  him,  when 
he  was  elected  ?  Tills  must,  therefore,  be  considered  as  an  objec- 
tion against  a  state  of  government,  rather  than  against  any  particu- 
lar form." 

Your  Excellency's  premises  are  true,  but  we  do  not  think  your 
conclusion  follows  from  them.  It  is  true,  that  every  restraint  of 
government  is  a  privation  of  natural  right ;  and  the  two  cuses  you 
have  been  pleased  to  mention,  may  be  instances  of  that  jn-ivation. 
But,  as  they  arise  from  the  nature  of  society  and  government ;  and 
as  government  is  necessary  to  secure  other  natural  rights,  infinitely 
more  valuable,  they  cannot,  therefore,  be  considered  as  an  objection, 
either  against  a  state  government,  or  against  any  particular  form 
of  it. 

Life,  liberty,  property,  and  the  disposal  of  that  property,  with 
our  own  consent,  are  natural  rights.  AVill  any  one  put  the  other  in 
competition  with  these  ;  or  infer,  that,  because  those  others  must  be 
given  up  in  a  state  of  government,  tliese  must  be  given  up  also  ? 
The  preservation  of  these  rights,  is  the  great  end  of  government. 
But  is  it  probable,  they  will  be  effectually  secured  by  a  government, 
which  the  proprietors  of  them,  have  no  part  in  the  direction  of,  and 
over  which,  they  have  no  power  or  influence,  whatever  ?  Hence,  is 
deducible  representation,  which  being  necessary  to  preserve  these 
invaluable  rights  of  nature,  is  itself,  for  that  reason,  a  natural  right, 
coinciding  with,  and  running  into  that  great  law  of  nature,  self  pres- 
ervation. 

Thus  have  we  considered  the  most  material  parts  of  your  Excel- 
lency's speech,  and,  agreeable  to  your  desire,  disclosed  to  you  our 
sentiments  on  the  subject  of  it.  "  Independence,"  as  you  have 
rightly  judged,  ''we  have  not  in  contemplation."  We  cannot,  how- 
ever, adopt  your  principles  of  government,  or  acquiesce  in  all  the 
inferences  you  have  drawn  from  them. 

"We  have  the  highest  respect  for  that  august  bod3\  the  Parlia- 
ment, and  do  not  presume  to  prescribe  the  exact  limits  of  its 
authority  ;  yet,  with  the  deference  which  is  due  to  it,  we  are 
humbly  of  opinion,  that,  as  all  human  authority  is,  in  the  nature  of 
it,  and  ought  to  be,  limited,  it  cannot,  constitutionally,  extend,  for 
the  reasons  we  have  suggested,  to  the  levying  of  taxes,  in  any  form, 
on  his  Majesty's  subjects  in  this  province. 


380  APPENDIX. 

In  such  principles  as  these,  our  predecessors  were  easy  and 
happy,  and  in  the  due  operation  of  such,  their  descendants,  the 
present  inhabitants  of  this  province,  have  been  easy  and  happy  :  but 
they  are  not  so  now.  Their  uneasiness  and  unhappiness  are  occa- 
sioned by  acts  of  Parliament,  and  regulations  of  government,  which 
lately,  and  within  a  few  years  past,  have  been  made.  And  this  un- 
easiness and  unhappiness,  both  in  the  cause  and  effects  of  them, 
though  your  Excellency  seems,  and  can  only  seem,  to  he  of  a  differ- 
ent opinion,  have  extended,  and  continue  to  extend,  to  all  the  colo- 
nies, throughout  the  continent. 

It  would  give  us  the  highest  satisfaction,  to  see  happiness  and 
tranquillity  restored  to  the  colonies,  and,  especially  to  see,  between 
Great  Britain  and  them,  an  union  established  on  such  an  equitable 
basis,  as  neither  of  them  shall  ever  wish  to  destroy.  We  humbly 
supplicate  the  sovereign  arbiter  and  sui>erintendent  of  human  affairs, 
for  these  happy  events. 

[Hon.  J.  Bowdoin,  H.  Gray,  J.  Otis,  and  S.  Hall,  were  the 
committee  of  Council,  who  prepared  the  above.] 


ANSWER  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  TO  THE  SPEECH 
OF  THE  GOVERNOR,  OF  SIXTH  JANUARY.  .  .  .  JANUARY  26, 

1773. 

May  it  please  your  Excellency, 

Your  Excellency's  speech  to  the  General  Assembly,  at  the  open- 
ing of  this  session,  has  been  read  with  great  attention  in  this  House. 

We  fully  agree  with  your  Excellency,  that  our  own  happiness,  as 
well  as  his  Majesty's  service,  very  much  depends  upon  peace  and 
order  ;  and  we  shall  at  all  times  take  such  measures  as  are  consist- 
ent with  our  constitution,  and  the  rights  of  the  people,  to  promote 
and  maintain  them.  That  the  government  at  present  is  in  a  very 
disturbed  state,  is  apparent.  But  we  cannot  ascribe  it  to  the  people's 
having  adopted  unconstitutional  principles,  which  seems  to  be  the 
cause  assigned  for  it  by  your  Excellency.  It  appears  to  us,  to  have 
been  occasioned  rather  by  the  British  House  of  Commons  assuming 
and  exercising  a  power  inconsistent  with  the  freedom  of  the  consti- 
tution, to  give  and  grant  the  property  of  the  colonists,  and  appro- 
priate the  same  without  their  consent. 

It  is  needless  for  us  to  inquire  what  were  the  principles  that  in- 


APPENDIX.  381 

duced  the  councils  of  the  nation  to  so  new  and  unprecedented  a 
measure.  Jiut,  when  the  Parliament,  by  an  act  of  their  own,  ex- 
pressly declared,  that  the  King,  Lords,  and  Commons,  of  the  na- 
tion "  have,  and  of  right  ought  to  have  full  power  and  authority  to 
make  laws  and  statutes  of  sufficient  force  and  validity,  to  bind  the 
colonies  and  people  of  America,  subjects  of  the  Crown  of  Great 
Britain,  in  all  cases  whatever,"  and  in  conse(pience  hereof,  another 
revenue  act  was  made,  the  minds  of  the  people  wei*e  filled  with 
anxiety,  and  they  were  justly  alarmed  with  appi'ehensions  of  the 
total  extinction  of  their  liberties. 

The  result  of  the  free  inquiries  of  many  persons,  into  the  right  of 
the  Parliament  to  exercise  such  a  power  over  the  colonies,  seems, 
in  your  Excellency's  opinion,  to  be  the  cause,  of  what  you  are 
pleased  to  call  the  present  "disturbed  state  of  the  govei'nment ;  " 
upon  which,  you  "  may  not  any  longer,  consistent  wuth  your  duty  to 
the  King,  and  your  regard  to  the  interest  of  the  province,  delay 
communicating  your  sentiments."  But  that  the  principles  adopted 
in  consequence  hereof,  are  unconstitutional,  is  a  subject  of  inquiry. 
We  know  of  no  such  disorders  arising  therefrom,  as  are  mentioned 
by  your  Excellency.  If  Grand  Jui'ors  have  not,  on  their  oaths, 
found  such  offences,  as  your  Excellency,  with  the  advice  of  his 
Majesty's  Council,  have  ordered  to  be  prosecuted,  it  is  to  be  pre- 
sumed, they  have  followed  the  dictates  of  good  conscience.  They 
are  the  constitutional  judges  of  these  matters,  and  it  is  not  to  be 
supposed,  that  moved  from  corrupt  principles,  they  have  suffered 
offenders  to  escape  a  prosecution,  and  thus  supported  and  encour- 
aged them  to  go  on  offending.  If  any  part  of  authority  shall,  in 
an  unconstitutional  manner,  interpose  in  any  matter,  it  will  be  no 
wonder  if  it  be  brought  into  contempt ;  to  the  lessening  or  confound- 
ing of  that  subordination,  which  is  necessary  to  a  well  regulated 
state.  Your  Excellency's  representation  that  the  bands  of  govern- 
ment are  weakened,  we  humbly  conceive  to  be  without  good  grounds  ; 
though  we  must  own,  the  heavy  burdens  unconstitutionally  brought 
upon  the  people,  have  been,  and  still  are  universally,  and  very  justly 
complained  of,  as  a  grievance. 

You  are  pleased  to  say,  that,  "  when  our  predecessors  first  took 
possession  of  this  plantation,  or  colony,  under  a  gi'ant  and  charter 
from  the  Crown  of  England,  it  was  their  sense,  and  it  was  the 
sense  of  the  kingdom,  that  they  were  to  remain  subject  to  the  su- 
preme authority  of    Parliament ;  "    whereby  we    understand   your 


382  APPENDIX. 

Excellency  to  mean,  in  the  sense  of  the  declaratory  act  of  Parlia- 
ment afore  mentioned,  in  all  cases  whatever.  And,  indeed,  it  is 
difficult,  if  possible,  to  draw  a  line  of  distinction  between  the  uni- 
versal authority  of  Parliament  over  the  colonies,  and  no  authority 
at  all.  It  is,  therefore,  necessary  for  us  to  inquire  how  it  appears, 
for  your  Excellency  has  not  shown  it  to  us,  that  when,  or  at  the 
time  that  our  predecessors  took  possession  of  this  plantation,  or 
colony,  under  a  grant  and  charter  from  the  Crown  of  England,  it 
was  their  sense,  and  the  sense  of  the  kingdom,  that  they  were  to 
i-emain  subject  to  the  authority  of  Parliament.  In  making  this 
inquiry,  we  shall,  according  to  your  Excellency's  recommendation, 
treat  the  subject  with  calmness  and  candor,  and  also  with  a  due 
regard  to  truth. 

Previous  to  a  direct  consideration  of  the  charter  granted  to  the 
province  or  colony,  and  the  better  to  elucidate  the  true  sense  and 
meaning  of  it,  we  would  take  a  view  of  the  state  of  the  English 
North  American  continent  at  the  time,  when,  and  after  possession 
was  first  taken  of  any  part  of  it,  by  the  Europeans.  It  was  then 
possessed  by  heathen  and  barbarous  people,  who  had,  nevertheless, 
all  that  right  to  the  soil,  and  sovereignty  in  and  over  the  lands  they 
possessed,  which  God  had  originally  given  to  man.  Whether  their 
being  heathen,  inferred  any  right  or  authority  to  Christian  princes, 
a  right  which  had  long  been  assumed  by  the  Pope,  to  dispose  of 
their  lands  to  others,  we  will  leave  to  your  Excellency,  or  any  one 
of  understanding  and  impartial  judgment,  to  consider.  It  is  certain, 
they  had  in  no  other  sense,  forfeited  them  to  any  power  in  Europe. 
Should  the  doctrine  be  admitted,  that  the  discovery  of  lands  oAvned 
and  possessed  by  pagan  people,  gives  to  any  Christian  prince  a  right 
and  title  to  the  dominion  and  property,  still  it  is  vested  in  the  Crown 
alone.  It  was  an  acquisition  of  foreign  territory,  not  annexed  to  the 
realm  of  England,  and,  therefore,  at  the  absolute  disposal  of  the 
Crown.  For  we  take  it  to  be  a  settled  point,  that  the  King  has  a 
constitutional  prerogative,  to  dispose  of  and  alienate,  any  part  of  his 
territories  not  annexed  to  the  realm.  In  the  exercise  of  this  pre- 
rogative. Queen  Elizabeth  granted  the  first  American  charter  ;  and, 
claiming  a  right  by  virtue  of  discovery,  then  supposed  to  be  valid, 
to  the  lands  which  are  now  possessed  by  the  colony  of  Virginia,  she 
conveyed  to  Sir  Walter  Rawlelgh.  the  property,  dominion,  and  sov- 
ereignty thereof,  to  be  held  of  the  Crown,  by  homage,  and  a  certain 
render,  without  any  reservation  to  herself,  of  any  share  in  the  Leg- 


APPENDIX.  383 

islative  and  Executive  authority.  After  the  attainder  of  Sir  Walter, 
King  James  the  I.  created  two  Virginian  companies,  to  be  governed 
each  by  hiws,  transmitted  to  them  by  his  Majesty,  and  not  by  the 
Parliament,  with  power  to  establish,  and  cause  to  be  made,  a  coin  to 
pass  current  among  them  ;  and  vested  with  all  liberties,  francliises 
and  Imnuinities,  within  any  of  his  other  dominions,  to  all  intents  and 
purjjoses,  as  if  they  had  been  abiding  and  born  within  ths  realm. 
A  declaration  similar  to  this,  is  contained  in  the  first  charter  of  this 
colony,  and  in  those  of  other  American  colonies,  which  shows  that 
the  colonies  were  not  intended,  or  considered  to  be  within  the  realm 
of  England,  though  within  the  allegiance  of  the  English  Crown. 
After  this,  another  charter  was  granted  by  the  same  King  James, 
to  the  Treasurer  and  Company  of  Virginia,  vesting  them  with  full 
power  and  authority,  to  make,  ordain,  and  establish,  all  manner  of 
orders,  laws,  directions,  instructions,  forms  and  ceremonies  of  gov- 
ernments, and  magistracy,  fit  and  necessary,  and  the  same  to  abro- 
gate, &c.  without  any  reservation  for  securing  their  subjection  to 
the  Parliament,  and  future  laws  of  England.  A  third  charter  was 
afterwards  granted  by  the  same  King,  to  the  Treasurer  and  Com- 
pany of  Virginia,  vesting  them  with  power  and  authority  to  make 
laws,  with  an  addition  of  this  clause,  "  so,  always,  that  the  same  be 
not  contrary  to  the  laws  and  statutes  of  this  our  realm  of  England." 
The  same  clause  was  afterwards  cojiied  into  the  charter  of  this  and 
other  colonies,  with  certain  variations,  such  as,  that  these  laws  should 
be  "  consonant  to  reason,"  '•  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  England," 
"  as  nearly  as  conveniently  may  be  to  the  laws,  statutes  and  rights  of 
England."  &c.  These  modes  of  expression,  convey  the  same  mean- 
ing, and  serve  to  show  an  intention,  that  the  laws  of  the  colonies 
should  be  as  much  as  possible,  conformable  in  the  spirit  of  them,  to 
the  principles  and  fundamental  laws  of  the  English  constitution,  its 
rights  and  statutes  then  in  being,  and  by  no  means  to  bind  tlie  col- 
onies to  a  subjection  to  the  supreme  authority  of  the  English  Parlia- 
ment. And  that  this  is  the  true  intention,  we  think  it  further  evident 
from  this  consideration,  that  no  acts  of  any  colony  Legislative,  are 
ever  brought  into  Pai'liament  for  insjiection  there,  though  the  laws 
made  in  some  of  them,  like  the  acts  of  the  British  Parliament,  are 
laid  before  the  King  for  his  dissent  or  allowance. 

We  have  brought  the  first  American  charters  into  view,  and  the 
state  of  the  country  when  they  were  granted,  to  show,  that  the  right 
of  disposing  of  the  lands  was,  in  the  opinion  of  those  times,  vested 


384  APPENDIX. 

solely  in  the  Crown  ;  that  the  several  charters  conveyed  to  the 
grantees,  who  should  settle  upon  the  territories  therein  granted,  all 
the  powers  necessary  to  constitute  them  free  and  distinct  states  ;  and 
that  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  English  constitution  should  be  the 
certain  and  established  rule  of  legislation,  to  wliich,  the  laws  to  be 
made  in  the  several  colonies,  were  to  be,  as  nearly  as  conveniently 
might  be,  conformable,  or  similar,  which  was  the  true  intent  and 
import  of  the  words,  "  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  England," 
"  consonant  to  reason,"  and  other  variant  exjiressions  in  the  difEer- 
ent  charters.  And  we  would  add,  that  the  King,  in  some  of  the 
charters,  reserves  the  right  to  judge  of  the  consonance  and  similarity 
of  their  laws  with  the  English  constitution,  to  himself,  and  not  to 
the  Parliament ;  and,  in  consequence  thereof,  to  affirm,  or  within  a 
limited  time,  disallow  them. 

These  charters,  as  well  as  that  afterwards  granted  to  Lord  Bal- 
timore, and  other  charters,  are  reiiugnant  to  the  idea  of  Parliar 
mentary  authority  ;  and,  to  suppose  a.  Parliamentary  authority  over 
the  colonies,  under  such  charters,  would  necessarily  induce  that 
solecism  in  politics,  Imperlum  in  im2)erlo.  And  the  King's  re- 
peatedly exercising  the  prerogative  of  disposing  of  the  American 
territory  by  such  charters,  together  with  the  silence  of  the  nation 
thereupon,  is  an  evidence  that  it  was  an  acknowledged  prerog- 
ative. 

But,  further  to  show  the  sense  of  the  English  Crown  and  nation, 
that  the  American  colonists,  and  our  predecessors  in  particular, 
when  they  first  took  possession  of  this  country,  by  a  grant  and  char- 
ter from  the  Crown,  did  not  remain  subject  to  the  supreme  authority 
of  Parliament,  we  beg  leave  to  observe,  that  when  a  bill  was  offered 
by  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament  to  King  Charles  the  I.  granting 
to  the  subjects  of  England,  the  free  liberty  of  fishing  on  the  coast 
of  America,  he  refused  his  royal  assent,  declaring  as  a  reason,  that 
"  the  colonies  were  without  the  realm  and  jurisdiction  of  Parlia- 
ment." 

In  like  manner,  his  predecessor,  James  the  I.  had  before  declared, 
upon  a  similar  occasion,  that  "  America  was  not  annexed  to  the 
realm,  and  it  was  not  fitting  that  Parliament  should  make  laws  for 
those  countries."  This  reason  was,  not  secretly,  but  openly  declared 
in  Parliament.  If,  then,  the  colonies  were  not  annexed  to  the 
realm,  at  the  time  when  their  charters  were  granted,  they  never 
could  be  afterwards,  without  their  own  sjjecial  consent,  which  has 


I 


APPENDIX.  385 

never  since  been  had,  or  even  asked.  If  they  are  not  now  annexed 
to  the  realm,  they  are  not  a  part  of  the  kingdom,  and  eonsec^uently 
not  subject  to  the  Legishvtive  authority  of  the  kingdom.  For  no 
country,  by  the  common  law,  was  subject  to  the  laws  or  to  the  Par- 
liament, but  the  realm  of  England. 

We  would,  if  your  Excellency  pleases,  subjoin  an  instance  of  con- 
duct in  King  Charles  the  II.  singular  indeed,  but  important  to  our 
l)urpose,  who,  in  1G79,  framed  an  act  for  a  permanent  revenue  for 
the  support  of  Virginia,  and  sent  it  there  by  Lord  Culpepper,  the 
Governor  of  that  colony,  which  was  afterwards  passed  into  a  law, 
and  ''  enacted  by  the  King's  most  excellent  Majesty,  by,  and  with 
the  consent  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia."  If  the  King  had 
judged  that  colony  to  be  a  part  of  the  realm,  he  would  not,  nor 
could  he,  consistently  with  Magna  Charta,  have  placed  himself  at 
the  head  of,  and  joined  with  any  Legislative  body  in  making  a  law 
to  tax  the  people  there,  other  than  the  Lords  and  Commons  of 
England. 

Having  taken  a  view  of  the  several  charters  of  the  first  colony  in 
America,  if  we  look  into  the  old  charter  of  this  colony,  we  shall 
find  it  to  be  grounded  on  the  same  principle  ;  that  the  right  of  dis- 
posing the  territory  granted  therein,  was  vested  in  the  Crown,  as 
being  that  Christian  Sovereign  who  first  discovered  it,  when  in  the 
possession  of  heathens ;  and  that  it  was  considered  as  being  not 
within  the  realm,  but  being  only  within  the  Fee  and  Seignory  of  the 
King.  As,  therefore,  it  was  without  the  realm  of  England,  must 
not  the  King,  if  he  had  designed  that  the  Parliament  should  have 
had  any  authority  over  it,  have  made  a  special  reservation  for  that 
purpose,  which  was  not  done  ? 

Your  Excellency  says,  "it  appears  from  the  charter  itself,  to 
have  been  the  sense  of  our  predecessors,  who  first  took  possession 
of  this  plantation,  or  colony,  that  they  were  to  remain  subject  to  the 
authority  of  Parliament."  You  have  not  been  pleased  to  point  out 
to  us,  how  this  appears  from  the  charter,  unless  it  be  in  the  observa- 
tion you  make  on  the  above  mentioned  clause,  viz.  :  "  that  a  favora- 
ble construction  has  been  put  upon  this  clause,  when  it  has  been 
allowed  to  intend  such  laws  of  England  only,  as  are  expressly  made 
to  respect  us,"  which  you  say,  "  is  by  charter,  a  reserve  of  power 
and  authority  to  Parliament,  to  bind  us  by  such  laws,  at  least,  as 
are  made  expressly  to  refer  to  us,  and  consequently  is  a  limitation 
of  the  power  given  to  the  General  Court."     But,  we  would  stiU  re- 


386  APPENDIX. 

cur  to  the  charter  itself,  and  ask  your  Excellency,  how  this  appears, 
from  thence,  to  have  heen  the  sense  of  our  predecessors  ?  Is  any 
reservation  of  power  and  authority  to  Parliament  thus  to  bind  us, 
expressed  or  implied  in  the  charter  ?  It  is  evident,  that  King 
Charles  the  I.  the  very  Prince  who  granted  it,  as  weU  as  his  prede- 
cessor, had  no  such  idea  of  the  supreme  authority  of  Parliament 
over  the  colony,  from  their  declarations  before  recited.  Your  Excel- 
lency will  then  allow  us,  further  to  ask,  by  what  authority,  in  reason 
or  equity,  the  Parliament  can  enforce  a  construction  so  unfavorable 
to  us.  Quod  ah  initio  inj^cstum  est,  nullum  potest  habere  juris  ef- 
fectum,  said  Grotius.  Which,  with  submission  to  your  Excellency, 
may  be  rendered  thus  :  whatever  is  originally  in  its  nature  wrong, 
can  never  be  sanctified,  or  made  right  by  repetition  and  use. 

In  solemn  agreements,  subsequent  restrictions  ought  never  to  be 
allowed.  The  celebrated  author,  whom  your  Excellency  has  quoted, 
tells  us,  that,  "  neither  the  one  or  the  other  of  the  interested,  or  con- 
tracting powers,  hath  a  right  to  interpret  at  pleasure."  This  we 
mention,  to  show,  even  ujwn  a  supposition,  that  the  Parliament  had 
been  a  party  to  the  contract,  the  invalidity  of  any  of  its  subsequent 
acts,  to  explain  any  clause  in  the  charter  ;  more  especially  to  restrict 
or  make  void  any  clause  granted  therein  to  the  General  Court.  An 
agreement  ought  to  be  interpreted  "  in  such  a  manner  as  that  it  may 
have  its  effect."  But,  if  your  Excellency's  interpretation  of  this 
clause  is  just,  ''  that  it  is  a  reserve  of  power  and  authority  to  Parlia- 
ment to  bind  us  by  such  laws  as  are  made  expressly  to  refer  to  us," 
it  is  not  only  "  a  limitation  of  the  power  given  to  the  General 
Court  "  to  legislate,  but  it  may,  whenever  the  Parliament  shall  think 
fit,  render  it  of  no  effect ;  for  it  jDuts  it  in  the  power  of  Parliament, 
to  bind  us  by  as  many  laws  as  they  please,  and  even  to  restrain  us 
from  making  any  laws  at  all.  If  your  Excellency's  assertions  in 
this,  and  the  next  succeeding  part  of  your  speech,  were  well 
grounded,  the  conclusion  would  be  undeniable,  that  the  charter,  even 
in  this  clause,  "  does  not  confer  or  reserve  any  liberties,"  worth  en- 
joying, "  but  what  would  have  been  enjoyed  without  it ;  "  saving 
that,  within  any  of  his  Majesty's  dominions,  we  are  to  be  consid- 
ered barely  as  not  aliens.  You  are  pleased  to  say,  it  cannot  "  be 
contended,  that  by  the  liberties  of  free  and  natural  subjects,"  (which 
are  expressly  granted  in  the  charter,  to  all  intents,  purposes  and  con- 
structions, whatever)  "  is  to  be  understood,  an  exemption  from  acts 
of  Parliament,  because  not  represented  there  ;  seeing  it  is  provided 


APPENDIX.  387 

by  the  same  charter,  that  such  acts  shall  be  in  foi'co."  If,  says  an 
eminent  lawyer,  "  the  King  grants  to  the  town  of  D.  the  same  liber- 
ties which  London  has,  this  shall  be  intended  the  like  liberties."  A 
grant  of  the  liberties  of  free  and  natural  subjects,  is  ecpiivalent  to  a 
grant  of  the  same  liberties.  And  the  King,  in  the  first  charter  to 
this  colony,  expressly  gi-ants,  that  it  "shall  be  construed,  reputed 
and  adjudged  in  all  cases,  most  favorably  on  the  behalf  and  for  the 
benefit  and  behoof  of  the  said  Governor  and  Company,  and  their 
successors  —  any  matter,  cause  or  thing,  whatsoever,  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding."  It  is  one  of  the  liberties  of  free  and  natural  sub- 
jects, born  and  abiding  within  the  realm,  to  be  governed,  as  your 
Excellency  observes,  "  by  laws  made  by  persons,  in  whose  elections 
they,  from  time  to  time,  have  a  voice."  This  is  an  essential  right. 
For  nothing  is  more  evident,  than,  that  any  people,  who  are  subject 
to  the  unlimited  power  of  another,  must  be  in  a  state  of  abject 
slavery.  It  was  easily  and  plainly  foreseen,  that  the  right  of  repre- 
sentation in  the  English  Parliament,  could  not  be  exercised  by  the 
people  of  this  colony.  It  would  be  impracticable,  if  consistent  with 
the  Englisli  constitution.  And  for  this  reason,  that  this  colony 
might  have  and  enjoy  all  the  liberties  and  immunities  of  free  and 
natural  subjects  within  the  realm,  as  stipulated  in  the  charter,  it 
was  necessary,  and  a  Legislative  was  accordingly  constituted  within 
the  colony  ;  one  branch  of  which,  consists  of  Representatives  chosen 
by  the  people,  to  make  all  laws,  statutes,  ordinances,  &c.  for  the  well 
ordering  and  governing  the  same,  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  Eng- 
land, or,  as  nearly  as  conveniently  might  be,  agreeable  to  the  funda- 
mental laws  of  the  English  constitution.  We  are,  therefore,  still  at 
a  loss  to  conceive,  where  your  Excellency  finds  it  "  provided  in  the 
same  charter,  that  such  acts,"  viz.  acts  of  Parliament,  made  ex- 
pressly to  refer  to  us,  "  shall  be  in  force  "  in  this  province.  There 
is  nothing  to  this  purpose,  expressed  in  the  charter,  or  in  our  opin- 
ion, even  implied  in  it.  And  surely  it  would  be  very  absurd,  that 
a  charter,  which  is  evidently  formed  upon  a  supposition  and  inten- 
tion, tliat  a  colony  is  and  should  be  considered  as  not  within  the 
realm  ;  and  declared  by  the  very  Prince  who  gi-anted  it,  to  be  not 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  Parliament,  should  yet  provide,  that  the 
laws  which  the  same  Parliament  should  make,  expressly  to  refer  to 
that  colony,  should  be  in  force  therein.  Your  Excellency  is  pleased 
to  ask,  "  does  it  follow,  that  the  government,  by  their  (our  ancestors) 
removal  from  one  part  of  the  dominions  to  another,  loses  its  authority 


388  APPENDIX. 

over  that  part  to  which  they  remove  ;  and  that  they  are  freed  from 
the  subjection  they  were  under  before  ?  "  We  answer,  if  that  part 
of  the  King's  dominions,  to  which  they  removed,  was  not  then  a  part 
of  the  reahn,  and  was  never  annexed  to  it,  the  Parliament  lost  no 
authority  over  it,  having  never  had  such  authority ;  and  the  emigra- 
tions were  consequently  freed  from  the  subjection  they  were 
under  before  their  removal.  The  power  and  authority  of  Parlia- 
ment, being  constitutionally  confined  within  the  limits  of  the  realm, 
and  the  nation  collectively,  of  which  alone  it  is  the  representing  and 
Legislative  Assembly.  Your  Excellency  further  asks,  "  will  it  not 
rather  be  said,  that  by  this,  their  voluntary  removal,  they  have  re- 
linquished, for  a  time,  at  least,  one  of  the  rights  of  an  English  sub- 
ject, which  they  might,  if  they  pleased,  have  continued  to  enjoy,  and 
may  again  enjoy,  whenever  they  return  to  the  place  where  it  can  be 
exercised  ?  "  To  which  we  answer  ;  they  never  did  relinquish  the 
right  to  be  governed  by  laws,  made  by  persons  in  whose  election 
they  had  a  voice.  The  King  stipulated  with  them,  that  they  should 
have  and  enjoy  all  the  liberties  of  free  and  natural  subjects,  born 
within  the  realm,  to  all  intents,  purposes  and  constructions,  whatso- 
ever ;  that  is,  that  they  should  be  as  free  as  those,  who  were  to 
abide  within  the  realm  :  consequently,  he  stipulated  with  them,  that 
they  should  enjoy  and  exercise  this  most  essential  right,  which  dis- 
criihinates  freemen  from  vassals,  uninten-uptedly,  in  its  full  sense 
and  meaning  ;  and  they  did,  and  ought  still  to  exercise  it,  without 
the  necessity  of  returning,  for  the  sake  of  exercising  it,  to  the  nation 
or  state  of  England. 

We  cannot  help  observing,  that  your  Excellency's  manner  of 
reasoning  on  this  point,  seems  to  us,  to  render  the  most  valuable 
clauses  in  our  charter  unintelligible  :  as  if  persons  going  from  the 
realm  of  England,  to  inhabit  in  America,  should  hold  and  exercise 
there  a  certain  right  of  English  subjects  ;  but,  in  order  to  exercise  it 
in  such  manner  as  to  be  of  any  benefit  to  them,  they  must  not  in- 
habit there,  but  return  to  the  place  where  alone  it  can  be  exercised. 
By  such  construction,  the  words  of  the  charter  can  have  no  sense  or 
meaning.  We  forbear  remarking  upon  the  absurdity  of  a  grant 
to  persons  born  within  the  realm,  of  the  same  liberties  which  would 
have  belonged  to  them,  if  they  had  been  born  without  the  realm. 

Your  Excellency  is  disposed  to  compare  this  government  to  the 
variety  of  corporations,  formed  within  the  kingdom,  with  power  to 
make  and  execute  by-laws,  &c.  ;  and,  because  they  remain  subject 


APPENDIX.  389 

to  the  supreme  authority  of  Parliament,  to  infer,  that  this  colony  is 
also  subject  to  the  same  authority  :  this  reasoning  appears  to  us 
not  just.  The  members  of  those  corporations  are  resident  within 
the  kingdom  ;  and  residence  subjects  them  to  the  authority  of  Par- 
liament, in  ■which  they  are  also  represented ;  whereas  the  people  of 
this  colony  are  not  resident  within  the  realm.  The  charter  was 
granted,  with  the  exjjress  purpose  to  induce  them  to  reside  without 
the  realm  ;  consequently,  they  are  not  represented  in  Parliament 
there.  But,  we  would  ask  your  Excellency,  are  any  of  the  corpo- 
rations, formed  within  the  kingdom,  vested  with  the  jiower  of 
erecting  other  subordinate  corporations  ?  of  enacting  and  determin- 
ing what  crimes  shall  be  capital  ?  and  constituting  courts  of  common 
law,  with  all  their  officers,  for  the  hearing,  trying  and  punishing 
capital  offenders  with  death  ?  These  and  many  other  powers  vested 
in  this  government,  plainly  show,  that  it  is  to  be  considered  as  a  cor- 
poration, in  no  other  light,  than  as  every  state  is  a  corporation. 
Besides,  appeals  from  the  courts  of  law  here,  are  not  brought  before 
the  House  of  Lords  ;  which  shows,  that  the  peers  of  the  realm,  are 
not  the  peers  of  America :  but  all  such  appeals  are  brought  before 
the  King  in  council,  which  is  a  further  evidence,  that  we  are  not 
within  the  realm. 

We  conceive  enough  has  been  said,  to  convince  your  Excellency, 
that.  "  when  our  predecessors  first  took  possession  of  this  plantation, 
or  colony,  by  a  grant  and  charter  from  the  Crown  of  England,  it  was 
not.  and  never  had  been  the  sense  of  the  kingdom,  that  they  were  to 
remain  subject  to  the  supreme  authority  of  Parliament."  We  will 
now,  with  your  Excellency's  leave,  inquire  what  icas  the  sense  of 
our  ancestors,  of  this  very  important  matter. 

And,  as  j^our  Excellency  has  been  pleased  to  tell  us,  j'ou  have  not 
discovered,  that  the  supreme  authority  of  Parliament  has  been  called 
in  question,  even  by  private  and  particular  persons,  until  within 
seven  or  eight  years  past ;  except  about  the  time  of  the  anarchy 
and  confusion  in  England,  which  jireceded  the  restoration  of  King 
Charles  the  II.  we  beg  leave  to  remind  your  Excellency  of  some 
parts  of  your  own  history  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  Therein  we  are 
informed  of  the  sentiments  of  "  persons  of  influence,"  after  the  res- 
toration ;  from  which,  the  historian  tells  us,  some  parts  of  their 
conduct,  that  is,  of  the  General  Assembly,  '"  may  be  pretty  well  ac- 
counted for."  By  the  history,  it  appears  to  have  been  the  opinion 
of  those  persons  of  influence,  "  that  the  subjects  of  any  prince  or 


390  APPENDIX. 

state,  had  a  natural  right  to  remove  to  any  other  state,  or  to  another 
quarter  of  the  world,  unless  the  state  was  weakened  or  exposed  by 
such  remove  ;  and,  even  in  that  case,  if  they  were  deprived  of  the 
right  of  all  mankind,  liberty  of  conscience,  it  would  justify  a  sei> 
aration,  and  upon  their  removal,  their  subjection  determined  and 
ceased."  That  'Hhe  country  to  which  they  had  removed,  was 
claimed  and  possessed  by  independent  princes,  whose  right  to  the 
lordship  and  sovereignty  thereof  had  been  acknowledged  by  the 
Kings  of  England,"  an  instance  of  which  is  quoted  in  the  margin. 
"  That  they  themselves  had  actually  purchased,  for  valuable  con- 
sideration, not  only  the  soil,  but  the  dominion,  the  lordship  and 
sovereignty  of  those  i)rinces  ;  "  without  which  purchase,  "  in  the 
sight  of  God  and  men,  they  had  no  right  or  title  to  what  they  pos- 
sessed." They  had  received  a  charter  of  incorporation  from  the 
King,  from  whence  arose  a  new  kind  of  subjection,  namely,  "  a 
voluntary,  civil  subjection  ;  "  and  by  this  compact,  "  they  were  to 
be  governed  by  laws  made  by  themselves."  Thus  it  appears  to 
have  been  the  sentiments  of  private  persons,  though  persons  by 
whose  sentiments  the  public  conduct  was  influenced,  that  their  re- 
moval was  a  justifiable  separation  from  the  mother  state,  upon  which, 
their  subjection  to  that  state,  determined  and  ceased.  The  supreme 
authority  of  Parliament,  if  it  had  then  ever  been  asserted,  must 
surely  have  been  called  in  question,  by  men  who  had  advanced  such 
principles  as  these. 

The  first  act  of  Parliament,  made  expressly  to  refer  to  the  colo- 
nies, was  after  the  restoration.  In  the  reign  of  King  Charles  the 
II.  several  such  acts  passed.  And  the  same  history  informs  us,  there 
was  a  difficulty  in  conforming  to  them  ;  and  the  reason  of  this  dif- 
ficulty is  explained  in  a  letter  of  the  General  Assembly  to  their 
Agent,  quoted  in  the  following  words  ;  "  they  apprehended  them  to 
be  an  invasion  of  the  rights,  liberties  and  properties  of  the  subjects 
of  his  Majesty,  in  the  colony,  they  not  being  represented  in  Par- 
liament, and  according  to  the  usual  sayings  of  the  learned  in  the 
law,  the  laws  of  England  were  bounded  within  the  four  seas,  and 
did  not  reach  America  :  However,  as  his  Majesty  had  signified  his 
pleasure,  that  those  acts  should  be  observed  in'  the  Massachusetts, 
they  had  made  provision,  by  a  law  of  the  colony,  that  they  should  be 
strictly  attended."  Which  provision,  by  a  law  of  their  own,  would 
have  been  superfluous,  if  they  had  admitted  the  supreme  authority 
of  Parliament.     In  short,  by  the  same  history  it  appears,  that  those 


APPENDIX.  391 

acts  of  Parliament,  as  such,  were  disregarded;  and  the  following  rea- 
son is  given  for  it :  "  It  seems  to  have  l)een  a  general  oi)inion,  that 
acts  of  Parliament  had  no  other  force,  than  what  they  derived  from 
acts  made  hy  the  General  Court,  to  establish  and  confirm  them." 

But,  still  further  to  show  the  sense  of  our  ancestors,  respecting 
this  matter,  we  beg  leave  to  recite  some  parts  of  a  narrative,  pre- 
sented to  the  Lords  of  Privy  Council,  by  Edward  Randolph,  in  the 
year  1676,  wliich  we  find  in  your  Excellency's  collection  of  papers 
lately  ])ublished.  Therein  it  is  declared  to  be  the  sense  of  the  col- 
ony, "  that  no  law  is  in  force  or  esteem  there,  but  such  as  are  made 
by  the  General  Coui-t ;  and,  therefore,  it  is  accounted  a  breach  of 
their  privileges,  and  a  betraying  of  the  liberties  of  their  common- 
wealth, to  urge  the  observation  of  the  laws  of  England."  And, 
further,  "  that  no  oath  shall  be  urged,  or  required  to  be  taken  by 
any  person,  but  such  oath  as  the  Genei-al  Court  hath  considered, 
allowed  and  required."  And,  further,  "  there  is  no  notice  taken  of 
the  act  of  navigation,  plantation  or  any  other  laws,  made  in  Eng- 
land for  the  regulation  of  trade."  "  That  the  government  would 
make  the  world  believe,  they  are  a  free  state,/ and  do  act  in  all  mat- 
ters accordingly."  Again,  "these  magistrates  ever  reserve  to  them- 
selves, a  power  to  alter,  evade  and  disannul  any  law  or  command, 
not  agreeing  with  their  humor,  or  the  absolute  authority  of  their 
government,  acknowledging  no  superior."  And,  further,  "he  (the 
Governor)  freely  declared  to  me,  that  the  laws  made  by  your  Majesty 
and  your  Pai'liament,  obligeth  them  in  nothing,  but  what  consists 
with  the  interests  of  that  colony ;  that  the  Legislative  power  and 
authority  is,  and  abides  in  them  solely."  And  in  the  same  Mr. 
Randolph's  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  July  14,  1682,  he  says, 
"  this  independency  in  government  is  claimed  and  daily  practised." 
And  your  Excellency  being  then  sensible,  that  this  was  the  sense  of 
our  ancestors,  in  a  marginal  note,  in  the  same  collection  of  papers, 
observes,  that,  "  this,  viz.  the  provision  made  for  observing  the  acts 
of  trade,  is  very  extraordinary,  for  this  provision  was  an  act  of  the 
colony,  declaring  the  acts  of  trade  shall  be  in  force  there."  Altliough 
Mr.  Randolph  was  very  unfriendly  to  the  colony,  yet,  as  his  declara- 
tions are  concurrent  with  those  recited  from  your  Excellency's  his- 
tory, we  think  they  may  be  admitted,  for  the  purpose  for  which  they 
are  now  brought. 

Thus  we  see,  from  your  Excellency's  history  and  publications,  the 
sense  our  ancestors  had  of  the  jurisdiction  of  Parliament,  under  the 


392  APPENDIX. 

fii'st  charter.  Very  different  from  that,  which  your  Excellency  in 
your  speech,  apprehends  it  to  have  been. 

It  appears  by  Mr.  Neal's  History  of  New  England,  that  the 
agents,  who  had  been  employed  by  the  colony  to  transact  its  affairs 
in  England,  at  the  time  when  the  present  charter  was  granted, 
among  other  reasons,  gave  the  following  for  their  acceptance  of  it, 
viz.  "  The  General  Court  has,  with  the  King's  aj^probation,  as  much 
power  in  New  England,  as  the  King  and  Parliament  have  in  Eng- 
land ;  they  have  all  English  privileges,  and  can  be  touched  by  no 
law,  and  by  no  tax  but  of  their  own  making."  This  is  the  earliest 
testimony  that  can  be  given  of  the  sense  our  predecessors  had  of 
the  sujjreme  authority  of  Parliament,  under  the  present  charter. 
And  it  plainly  shows,  that  they,  who  having  been  freely  conversant 
with  those  who  framed  the  charter,  must  have  well  understood  the 
design  and  meaning  of  it,  supposed  that  the  terms  in  our  charter, 
"  full  power  and  authority,"  intended  and  were  considered  as  a  sole 
and  exclusive  power,  and  that  there  was  no  '•  reserve  in  the  char- 
ter, to  the  authority  of  Parliament,  to  bind  the  colony  "  by  any  acts 
whatever. 

Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  charter,  viz.  in  1692.  your  Excel- 
lency's history  informs  us,  "  the  first  act "  of  this  Legislative,  was 
a  sort  of  Magna  Charta,  asserting  and  setting  forth  their  general 
privileges,  and  this  clause  was  among  the  rest ;  "■  no  aid,  tax,  tal- 
lage, assessment,  custom,  loan,  benevolence,  or  imposition  whatever, 
shall  be  laid,  assessed,  imposed,  or  levied  on  any  of  their  Majesty's 
subjects,  or  their  estates,  on  any  pretence  whatever,  but  by  the  act 
and  consent  of  the  Governor,  Council,  and  Representatives  of  the 
people  assembled  in  General  Court."  And  though  this  act  was  dis- 
allowed, it  serves  to  show  the  sense  which  the  General  Assembly, 
contemjjorary  with  the  granting  the  charter,  had  of  their  sole  and 
exclusive  right  to  legislate  for  the  colony.  The  history  says,  "  the 
other  parts  of  the  act  were  copied  from  Magna  Charta ;  "  by  which 
we  may  conclude  that  the  Assembly  then  construed  the  words,  "  not 
repugnant  to  the  laws,"  to  mean,  conformable  to  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  English  constitution.  And  it  is  observable,  that 
the  Lords  of  Pri\'y  Council,  so  lately  as  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne, 
when  several  laws  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  were  laid  be- 
fore her  Majesty  for  her  allowance,  interpreted  the  words  in  this 
charter,  "  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  England,"  by  the  words, 
*'  as  nearly  as  conveniently  may  be  agreeable  to  the  laws  and  stat- 


APPENDIX.  393 

utes  of  England."  And  her  Majesty  was  pleased  to  disallow  those 
acts,  not  because  they  were  repugnant  to  any  law  or  statute  of  f^ng- 
land,  made  expressly  to  refer  to  the  colony,  but  because  divers  per- 
sons, by  virtue  thereof,  were  punished,  without  being  tried  by  their 
peers  in  the  ordinary  "courts  of  law,"  and  "by  the  ordinary  rules 
and  known  methods  of  justice,"  contrary  to  the  express  terms  of 
Magna  Charta,  which  was  a  statute  in  force  at  the  time  of  granting 
the  charter,  and  declaratory  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  sub- 
jects within  the  realm. 

You  are  pleased  to  say,  that  "our  provincial  or  local  laws  have, 
in  numerous  instances,  had  relation  to  acts  of  Parliament,  made  to 
respect  the  plantations,  and  this  colony  in  particular."  The  au- 
thority of  the  Legislature,  says  the  same  author  who  is  quoted  by 
your  Excellency,  "  does  not  extend  so  far  as  the  fundamentals  of 
the  constitution.  They  ought  to  consider  the  fundamental  laws  as 
sacred,  if  the  nation  has  not  in  very  express  terms,  given  them  the 
power  to  change  them.  For  the  constitution  of  the  state  ought  to 
be  fixed  ;  and  since  that  was  first  established  by  the  nation,  which 
afterwards  trusted  certain  persons  with  the  Legislative  power,  the 
fundamental  laws  are  excepted  from  their  commission."  Now  the 
fundamentals  of  the  constitution  of  this  province,  are  stij^ulated  in 
the  charter ;  the  reasoning,  therefore,  in  this  case,  holds  equally 
good.  Much  less,  then,  ought  any  acts  or  doings  of  the  General 
Assembly,  however  numerous,  to  neither  of  which  your  Excellency 
has  pointed  us,  which  barely  relate  to  acts  of  Parliament  made  to 
respect  the  jilantations  in  general,  or  this  colony  in  particular,  to  be 
taken  as  an  acknowledgment  of  this  people,  or  even  of  the  Assembly, 
which  inadvertently  passed  those  acts,  that  we  are  subject  to  the 
supreme  authority  of  Parliament ;  and  with  still  less  reason  are  the 
decisions  in  the  executive  courts  to  determine  this  point.  If  they 
have  adopted  that  "  as  part  of  the  rule  of  law,"  which,  in  fact,  is 
not,  it  must  be  imputed  to  inattention  or  error  in  judgment,  and  can- 
not justly  be  urged  as  an  alteration  or  restriction  of  the  Legislative 
authority  of  the  province. 

Before  we  leave  this  part  of  your  Excellency's  speech,  we  would 
observe,  that  the  great  design  of  our  ancestors,  in  leaving  the  king- 
dom of  England,  was  to  be  freed  from  a  subjection  to  its  spiritual 
laws  and  courts,  and  to  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of 
their  consciences.  Your  Excellency,  in  your  history  observes,  that 
their  design  was  "  to  obtain  for  themselves  and  their  posterity,  the 


394  APPENDIX. 

liberty  of  worshipping  God  in  such  manner  as  appeared  to  them 
most  agreeable  to  the  sacred  scriptures."  And  the  General  Court 
themselves  declared  in  1651,  that  "  seeing  just  cause  to  fear  the 
persecution  of  the  then  Bishop,  and  high  commission  for  not  con- 
forming to  the  ceremonies  of  those  under  their  power,  they  thought 
it  their  safest  course,  to  get  to  this  outside  of  the  world,  out  of  their 
view,  and  beyond  their  reach."  But,  if  it  had  been  their  sense, 
that  they  were  still  to  be  subject  to  the  supreme  authority  of  Parlia- 
ment, they  must  have  known  that  their  design  might,  and  probably 
would  be  frustrated  ;  that  the  Parliament,  especially  considering 
the  temper  of  those  times,  might  make  what  ecclesiastical  laws 
they  pleased,  expressly  to  refer  to  them,  and  place  them  in  the  same 
circumstances  with  respect  to  religious  matters,  to  be  relieved  from 
which,  was  the  design  of  their  removal ;  and  we  would  add,  that 
if  your  Excellency's  construction  of  the  clause  in  our  present  char- 
ter is  just,  another  clause  therein,  which  provides  for  liberty  of  con- 
science for  all  christians,  except  pajjists,  may  be  rendered  void  by 
an  act  of  Parliament  made  to  refer  to  us,  requiring  a  conformity  to 
the  rites  and  mode  of  worship  in  the  church  of  England,  or  any  other. 

Thus  we  have  endeavored  to  show  the  sense  of  the  people  of  this 
colony  under  both  charters  ;  and,  if  there  have  been  in  any  late 
instances  a  submission  to  acts  of  Parliament,  it  has  been,  in  our 
opinion,  rather  from  inconsideration,  or  a  reluctance  at  the  idea  of 
contending  with  the  parent  state,  than  from  a  conviction  or  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  Supreme  Legislative  authority  of  Parliament. 

Your  Excellency  tells  us,  "  you  know  of  no  line  that  can  be 
drawn  between  the  supreme  authority  of  Parliament  and  the  total 
independence  of  the  colonies."  If  there  be  no  such  line,  the  con- 
sequence is,  either  that  the  colonies  are  the  vassals  of  the  Parlia- 
ment, or  that  they  are  totally  independent.  As  it  cannot  be  sup- 
posed to  have  been  the  intention  of  the  2:)arties  in  the  compact,  that 
we  should  be  reduced  to  a  state  of  vassalage,  the  conclusion  is,  that 
it  was  their  sense,  that  we  were  thus  independent.  "  It  is  impossi- 
ble," your  Excellency  says,  "  that  there  should  be  two  independent 
Legislatures  in  one  and  the  same  state."  May  we  not  then  further 
conclude,  that  it  was  their  sense,  that  the  colonies  were,  by  their 
charters,  made  distinct  states  from  the  mother  country  ?  Your 
Excellency  adds,  "  for  although  there  may  be  but  one  head,  the 
King,  yet  the  two  Legislative  bodies  will  make  two  governments  as 
distinct  as  the  kingdoms  of  England  and  Scotland,  before  the  union." 


APPENDIX.  395 

Very  true,  may  it  please  your  Excellency  ;  and  if  they  iiiterftic 
not  with  each  other,  what  hinders,  hut  that  being  united  in  one 
head  and  common  Sovereign,  they  may  live  happily  in  that  connec- 
tion, and  mutually  support  and  protect  each  other  ?  Notwithstand- 
ing all  the  terrors  which  your  Excellency  has  pictured  to  us  as  the 
effects  of  a  total  independence,  there  is  more  reason  to  dread  the 
consequences  of  absolute  uncontroled  power,  whether  of  a  nation  or 
a  monarch,  than  those  of  a  total  independence.  It  would  be  a  mis- 
fortune "  to  know  by  experience,  the  difference  between  the  liber- 
ties of  an  English  colonist  and  those  of  the  Spanish,  French,  and 
Dutch  :  "  and  since  the  British  Parliament  has  passed  an  act,  wdiich 
is  executed  even  with  rigor,  though  not  voluntarily  submitted  to,  for 
raising  a  revenue,  and  appropriating  the  same,  without  the  consent 
of  the  people  who  pay  it,  and  have  claimed  a  power  of  making  such 
laws  as  they  please,  to  order  and  govern  us,  your  Excellency  will 
excuse  us  in  asking,  whether  you  do  not  think  we  already  experience 
too  much  of  such  a  difference,  and  have  not  reason  to  fear  we  shall 
soon  be  reduced  to  a  worse  situation  than  that  of  the  colonies  of 
France,  Spain,  or  Holland  ? 

If  jour  Excellency  expects  to  have  the  line  of  distinction  between 
the  supreme  authority  of  Parliament,  and  the  total  independence  of 
the  colonies  drawai  by  us,  we  would  say  it  would  be  an  arduous 
undertaking,  and  of  very  great  importance  to  all  the  other  colonies  ; 
and  therefore,  could  we  conceive  of  such  a  line,  we  should  be  unwill- 
ing to  propose  it,  without  their  consent  in  Congress. 

To  conclude,  these  are  great  and  profound  questions.  It  is  the 
grief  of  this  House,  that,  by  the  ill  policy  of  a  late  injudicious 
administration,  America  has  been  driven  into  the  contemplation  of 
them.  And  we  cannot  but  express  our  concern,  that  your  Excel- 
lency, by  your  speech,  has  reduced  us  to  the  unhapjjy  alternative. 
either  of  appearing  by  our  silence  to  acquiesce  in  your  Excellency's 
sentiments,  or  of  thus  freely  discussing  this  point. 

After  all  that  we  have  said,  we  would  be  far  from  being  under- 
stood to  have  in  the  least  abated  that  just  sense  of  allegiance  which 
we  owe  to  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  our  rightful  Sovereign  ;  and 
should  the  people  of  this  province  be  left  to  the  free  and  full  exer- 
cise of  all  the  liberties  and  immunities  granted  to  them  by  charter, 
there  would  be  no  danger  of  an  independence  on  the  Crown.  Our 
charters  reserve  great  power  to  tlie  Crown  in  its  Representative, 
fully  sufficient  to  balance,  analogous  to  the  English  constitution,  all 


396  APPENDIX. 

the  liberties  and  privileges  granted  to  the  people.  All  this  your 
Excellency  knows  full  well ;  and  whoever  considers  the  power  and 
influence,  in  all  their  branches,  reserved  by  our  charter,  to  the 
Crown,  will  be  far  from  thinking  that  the  Commons  of  this  province 
are  too  independent. 

[This  answer  was  reported  by  Mr,  S.  Adams,  Mr.  Hancock,  Maj. 
Hawley,  Col.  Bowers,  Mr.  Hobson,  Maj.  Foster,  Mr.  Phdlips,  and 
Col.  Thayer.] 

No  doubt  Hutchinson  was  agitated,  but  he  by  no  means  lost  his 
head.  His  rejoinder  to  Council  and  House  came  promptly,  and 
drove  effectively  at  the  positions  of  his  adversaries. 


SPEECH  OF  THE  GOVERNOR  TO  BOTH  HOUSES,  FEBRUARY 

IG,  177o. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Council,  and  Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, 

The  jDroceedings  of  such  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Boston, 
as  assembled  together,  and  passed  and  published  their  resolves  or 
votes,  as  the  act  of  the  town,  at  a  legal  town  meeting,  denying,  in 
the  most  express  terms,  the  supremacy  of  Parliament,  and  inviting 
every  other  town  and  district  in  the  province,  to  adojjt  the  same 
principle,  and  to  establish  committees  of  correspondence,  to  consult 
upon  proper  measures  to  maintain  it,  and  the  proceedings  of  divers 
other  towns,  in  consequence  of  this  invitation,  appeared  to  me  to  be 
so  unwarrantable,  and  of  such  a  dangerous  nature  and  tendency, 
that  I  thought  myself  bound  to  call  upon  you  in  my  speech  at  open- 
ing the  session,  to  join  with  me  in  discountenancing  and  bearing  a 
proper  testimony  against  such  irregularities  and  innovations. 

I  stated  to  you  fairly  and  truly,  as  I  conceived,  the  constitution  of 
the  kingdom  and  of  the  province,  so  far  as  relates  to  tlie  dependence 
of  the  former  upon  the  latter ;  and  I  desired  you,  if  you  differed 
from  me  in  sentiments,  to  show  me,  with  candor,  my  own  errors,  and 
to  give  your  reasons  in  support  of  your  opinions,  so  far  as  you  might 
differ  from  me.  I  hoped  that  you  would  have  considered  my  speech 
by  your  joint  committees,  and  have  given  me  a  joint  answer;  but, 
as  the  House  of  Representatives  have  declined  that  mode  of  proceed- 
ing, and  as  your  principles  in  government  are  very  different,  I  am 
obliged  to  make  separate  and  distinct  replies.  I  shall  first  apply 
myself  to  you, 


APPENDIX.  397 

Gentlemen  of  the  Council. 

The  two  first  parts  of  your  answer,  which  respect  the  disorders 
occasioned  by  the  stamp  act,  and  the  general  nature  of  supreme  au- 
thority, do  not  appear  to  me  to  have  a  tendency  to  invalidate  any 
thing  which  I  have  said  in  my  speech ;  for,  however  the  stamp  act 
may  have  been  the  immediate  occasion  of  any  disorders,  the  author- 
ity of  Parliament  was,  notwithstanding,  denied,  in  order  to  justify 
or  excuse  them.  And,  for  the  nature  of  the  supreme  authority  of 
Parliament,  I  have  never  given  you  any  reason  to  suppose,  that  I 
intended  a  more  absolute  power  in  Parliament,  or  a  greater  degree 
of  active  or  passive  obedience  in  the  people,  than  what  is  founded  in 
the  nature  of  government,  let  the  form  of  it  be  what  it  may.  I 
shall,  therefore,  pass  over  those  parts  of  your  answer,  without  any 
other  remark.  I  would  also  have  saved  you  the  trouble  of  all  those 
authorities  which  you  have  brought  to  show,  that  all  taxes  upon 
English  subjects,  must  be  levied  by  virtue  of  the  act,  not  of  the  King 
alone,  but  in  conjunction  with  the  Lords  and  Commons,  for  I  should 
very  readily  have  allowed  it ;  and  I  should  as  readily  have  allowed, 
that  all  other  acts  of  legislation  must  be  passed  by  the  same  joint 
authority,  and  not  by  the  King  alone. 

Indeed,  I  am  not  willing  to  continue  a  controversy  with  you,  upon 
any  other  parts  of  your  answer.  I  am  glad  to  find,  that  indepen- 
dence is  not  what  you  have  in  contemplation,  and  that  you  will  not 
presume  to  prescribe  the  exact  limits  of  the  authority  of  Parliament, 
only,  as  with  due  deference  to  it,  you  are  humbly  of  opinion,  that, 
as  all  human  authority  in  the  nature  of  it  is,  and  ought  to  be  limited, 
it  cannot  constitutionally  extend,  for  the  reasons  you  have  suggested, 
to  the  levying  of  taxes,  in  any  form,  on  his  Majesty's  subjects  of  this 
province. 

I  will  only  observe,  that  your  attempts  to  draw  a  line  as  the  limits 
of  the  supreme  authority  in  government,  by  distinguishing  some  nat- 
ural rights,  as  more  peculiarly  exempt  from  such  authority  than  the 
rest,  rather  tend  to  evince  the  impracticability  of  drawing  such  a 
line  ;  and,  that  some  parts  of  your  answer  seem  to  infer  a  supremacy 
in  the  province,  at  the  same  time  that  you  acknowledge  the  suprem- 
acy of  Parliament;  for  otherwise,  the  rights  of  the  sul)jects  cannot 
be  the  same  in  all  essential  respects,  as  you  suppose  them  to  be,  in 
all  parts  of  the  dominions,  "under  a  like  form  of  Legislature." 

From  these,  therefore,  and  other  considerations,  I  cannot  help 
flattering  myself,  that,  upon  more  mature  deliberation,  and  in  order 


398  APPENDIX. 

to  a  more  consistent  plan  of  government,  you  will  choose  rather  to 
doubt  of  the  expediency  of  Parliament's  exercising  its  authority  in 
cases  that  may  happen,  than  to  limit  the  authority  itself,  especially, 
as  you  agree  with  me  in  the  proper  method  of  obtaining  a  redress 
of  grievances  by  constitutional  representations,  which  cannot  well 
consist  with  a  denial  of  the  authority  to  which  the  representations 
are  made  ;  and  from  the  best  information  I  have  been  able  to  obtain, 
the  denial  of  the  authority  of  Parliament,  exjjressly,  or  by  implica- 
tion, in  those  petitions  to  which  you  refer,  was  the  cause  of  their  not 
being  admitted,  and  not  any  advice  given  by  the  Minister  to  the 
Agents  of  the  colonies.  I  must  enlarge,  and  be  more  particular  in 
my  reply  to  you. 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

I  shall  take  no  notice  of  that  part  of  your  answer,  which  attrib- 
utes the  disorders  of  the  province,  to  an  undue  exercise  of  the  power 
of  Parliament ;  because  you  take  for  granted,  what  can  by  no  means 
be  admitted,  that  Parliament  had  exerqised  its  power  without  just 
authority.  The  sum  of  your  answer,  so  far  as  it  is  pertinent  to  my 
speech,  is  this. 

You  allege  that  the  colonies  were  an  acquisition  of  foreign  terri- 
tory, not  annexed  to  the  realm  of  England;  and,  therefore,  at  the 
absolute  disposal  of  the  Crown ;  the  King  having,  as  you  take  it,  a 
constitutional  right  to  dispose  of,  and  alienate  any  part  of  liis  terri- 
tories, not  annexed  to  the  realm  ;  that  Queen  Elizabeth  accordingly 
conveyed  the  property,  dominion,  and  sovereignty  of  Virginia,  to  Sir 
"Walter  Raleigh,  to  be  held  of  the  Crown  by  homage  and  a  certain 
render,  without  reserving  any  share  in  the  legislative  and  executive 
authority;  that  the  subsequent  grants  of  America  were  similar  in 
this  respect ;  that  they  were  without  any  reservation  for  securing  the 
subjection  of  the  colonists  to  the  Parliament,  and  future  laws  of 
England ;  that  this  was  the  sense  of  the  English  Crown,  the  nation, 
and  our  predecessors,  when  they  first  took  possession  of  this  country  ; 
that  if  the  colonies  were  not  then  annexed  to  the  realm,  they  cannot 
have  been  annexed  since  that  time  ;  that  if  they  are  not  now  annexed 
to  the  realm,  they  are  not  part  of  the  kingdom ;  and,  consequently, 
not  subject  to  the  legislative  autliority  of  the  kingdom ;  for  no  coun- 
try, by  the  common  law,  was  subject  to  the  laws  or  to  the  Parlia- 
ment, but  the  realm  of  England. 

Now,  if  this  foundation  shall  fail  you  in  every  part  of  it,  as  I 


APPENDIX.  399 

think  it  will,  the  fabric  wliich  you  have  raised  upon  it  must  certainly 
fall. 

Let  me  then  observe  to  you,  that  as  English  subjects,  and  agreea- 
ble to  the  doctrine  of  feudal  tenure,  all  our  lands  and  tenements 
are  held  mediately,  or  innnediately  of  the  Crown,  and  although  the 
possession  and  use,  or  profits,  be  in  the  subject,  there  stiU  remains  a 
dominion  in  the  Crown.  When  any  new  countries  are  discovered 
by  English  subjects,  according  to  the  general  law  and  usage  of  na- 
tions, they  become  part  of  the  state,  and,  according  to  the  feudal 
system,  the  lordship  or  dominion,  is  in  the  Crown ;  and  a  right  ac- 
crues of  disposing  of  such  territories,  under  such  tenure,  or  for  such 
services  to  be  performed,  as  the  Crown  shall  judge  proper ;  and 
whensoever  any  part  of  such  territories,  by  grant  from  the  Crown, 
becomes  the  possession  or  property  of  private  persons,  such  persons, 
thus  holding,  under  the  Crown  of  England,  remain,  or  become  sub- 
jects of  England,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  fully,  as  if  any  of 
the  royal  manors,  forests,  or  other  territory,  within  the  realm,  had 
been  granted  to  them  upon  the  like  tenure.  But,  that  it  is  now,  or 
was,  when  the  plantations  were  first  granted,  the  prerogative  of  the 
Kings  of  England  to  alienate  such  territories  from  the  Crown,  or  to 
constitute  a  number  of  new  governments,  altogether  indeijendent  of 
the  sovereign  legislative  authority  of  the  English  empire,  I  can  by 
no  means  concede  to  you.  I  have  never  seen  any  better  authority 
to  su^Ji^ort  such  an  opinion,  than  an  anonymous  pamphlet,  by  which, 
I  fear,  you  have  too  easily  been  misled ;  for  I  shall  presently  show 
you,  that  the  declarations  of  King  James  the  I.  and  of  King  Charles 
the  I.  admitting  they  are  truly  related  by  the  author  of  this  pam- 
phlet, ought  to  have  no  weight  with  you  ;  nor  does  the  cession  or  res- 
toration, upon  a  treaty  of  peace,  of  countries  which  have  been  lost  or 
acquired  in  war,  militate  with  these  principles ;  nor  may  any  partic- 
ular act  of  power  of  a  prince,  in  selling,  or  delivering  up  any  part 
of  his  dominions  to  a  foreign  prince  or  state,  against  the  general 
sense  of  the  nation,  be  urged  to  invalidate  them ;  and,  upon  exami- 
nation, it  will  appear,  that  all  the  grants  which  have  been  made  of 
America,  are  founded  upon  them,  and  are  made  to  conform  to  them, 
even  those  wliich  you  have  adduced  in  support  of  very  different 
principles. 

You  do  not  recollect,  that,  prior  to  what  you  call  the  first  grant 
by  Queen  Elizabeth  to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  a  grant  had  been  made 
by  the  same  Princess,  to  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  of  all  such  coun- 


400  APPENDIX. 

tries  as  he  should  discover,  which  were  to  be  of  the  allegiance  of 
her,  her  heirs  and  successors  ;  but  he  dying  in  the  prosecution 
of  his  voyage,  a  second  grant  was  made  to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
which,  you  say,  conveyed  the  dominion  and  sovereignty,  without 
any  reserve  of  legislative  or  executive  authority,  being  held  by 
homage  and  a  render.  To  hold  by  homage,  which  implies  fealty, 
and  a  render,  is  descriptive  of  soccage  tenure  as  fully,  as  if  it  had 
been  said  to  hold  as  of  our  manor  of  East  Greenwich,  the  words  in 
your  charter.  Now,  this  alone  was  a  reserve  of  dominion  and  sover- 
eignty in  the  Queen,  her  heirs  and  successors  ;  and,  besides  this, 
the  grant  is  made  ujion  this  express  condition,  which  you  i)ass  over, 
that  the  people  remain  subject  to  the  Crown  of  England,  the  head 
of  that  legislative  authority,  which,  by  the  English  constitution,  is 
equally  extensive  with  the  authority  of  the  Crown,  throughout  every 
part  of  the  dominions.  Now,  if  we  could  suppose  the  Queen  to 
have  acquired,  separate  from  her  relation  to  her  subjects,  or  in  her 
natural  capacity,  which  she  could  not  do,  a  title  to  a  country  dis- 
covered by  her  subjects,  and  then  to  grant  the  same  country  to 
English  subjects,  in  her  J3ublic  capacity  as  Queen  of  England,  still, 
by  this  grant,  she  annexed  it  to  the  Crown.  Thus  by  not  dis- 
tinguishing between  the  Crown  of  England,  and  the  Kings  and 
Queens  of  England,  in  their  personal  or  natural  cajiacities,  you  have 
been  led  into  a  fundamental  error,  which  must  prove  fatal  to  your 
system.  It  is  not  material,  whether  Virginia  reverted  to  the  Crown 
by  Sir  Walter's  attainder,  or  whether  he  never  took  any  benefit 
from  his  grant,  though  the  latter  is  most  probable,  seeing  he  ceased 
from  all  attempts  to  take  possession  of  the  country  after  a  few  years 
trial.  There  were,  undoubtedly,  divers  grants  made  by  King  James 
the  I.  of  the  continent  of  America,  in  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  and  similar  to  the  grant  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  in  this 
resjject,  that  they  were  dependent  on  the  Crown.  The  charter  to 
the  Council  at  Plymouth,  in  Devon,  dated  November  3,  1620,  more 
immediately  respects  us,  and  of  that  we  have  the  most  authentic 
remains. 

By  this  charter,  upon  the  petition  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  a 
corporation  was  constituted,  to  be,  and  continue  by  succession,  for- 
ever in  the  town  of  Plymouth  aforesaid,  to  which  corporation,  that 
part  of  the  American  continent,  which  lies  between  40  and  48  de- 
grees of  latitude,  was  granted,  to  be  held  of  the  King,  his  heirs  and 
successors,  as  of  the  manor  of  East  Greenwich,  with  powers  to  con- 


APPENDIX.  401 

stitnte  subordinate  governments  in  America,  and  to  make  laws  for 
such  governments,  not  reinignant  to  the  hiws  and  statutes  of  P3ng- 
land.  From  this  corporation,  your  predecessors  obtained  a  grant  of 
the  soil  of  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  1627,  and  in  1G28, 
they  obtained  a  charter  from  King  Charles  the  I.  making  them  a 
distinct  corporation,  also  within  the  realm,  and  giving  them  full 
powers  within  the  limits  of  their  patent,  very  like  to  those  of  the 
Council  of  Plymouth,  throughout  their  more  extensive  territory. 

"We  will  now  consider  what  must  have  been  the  sense  of  the 
King,  of  the  nation,  and  of  the  patentees,  at  the  time  of  granting 
these  patents.  From  the  year  1602,  the  banks  and  sea  coasts  of  New 
England  had  been  frequented  by  English  subjects,  for  catching  and 
drying  cod  fish.  When  an  exclusive  right  to  the  fishery  was 
claimed,  by  virtue  of  the  patent  of  1620,  the  House  of  Commons 
was  alarmed,  and  a  bill  was  brought  in  for  allowing  a  free  fishery ; 
and,  it  was  upon  this  occasion,  that  one  of  the  Secretaries  of  State 
declared,  perhaps,  as  his  own  opinion,  that  the  plantations  were  not 
annexed  to  the  Crown,  and  so  were  not  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
Parliament.  Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  who  was  one  of  the  Virginia  Com- 
pany, and  an  eminent  lawyer,  declared,  that  he  knew  Virginia  had 
been  annexed,  and  was  held  of  the  Crown,  as  of  the  manor  of  East 
Greenwich,  and  he  believed  New  England  was  so  also  ;  and  so  it 
most  certainly  was.  This  declaration,  made  by  one  of  the  King's 
servants,  you  say,  shewed  the  sense  of  the  Crown,  and,  being  not 
secretly,  but  openly  declared  in  Parliament,  you  would  make  it  the 
sense  of  the  nation  also,  notwithstanding  your  own  assertion,  that 
the  Lords  and  Commons  passed  a  bill,  that  shewed  their  sense  to  be 
directly  the  contraiy.  But  if  there  had  been  full  evidence  of  ex- 
press declarations  made  by  King  James  the  I.  and  King  Charles  the 
I.  they  were  declarations  contrary  to  their  own  grants,  wliich  declare 
this  country  to  be  held  of  the  Crown,  and,  consequently,  it  must 
have  been  annexed  to  it.  And  may  not  such  declarations  be  ac- 
counted for  by  other  actions  of  those  princes,  who,  when  they  were 
soliciting  the  Parliament  to  grant  the  duties  of  tonnage  and  pound- 
age, with  other  aids,  and  wei'e,  in  this  way.  acknowledging  the  rights 
of  Parliament,  at  the  same  time  were  requiring  the  payment  of  those 
duties,  with  ship  money,  &c.  by  virtue  of  their  prerogative  ? 

But  to  remove  all  doubts  of  the  sense  of  the  nation,  and  of  the 
patentees  of  this  patent,  or  charter,  in  1620.  I  need  only  refer  you 
to  the  account  published  by  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  himself,  of  the 


402  APPENDIX. 

proceedings  in  Parliament  upon  this  occasion.  As  he  was  the  most 
active  Member  of  the  Council  of  Plymouth,  and,  as  he  relates  what 
came  within  his  own  knowledge  and  observation,  his  narrative,  which 
has  all  the  appearance  of  truth  and  sincerity,  must  carry  conviction 
with  it.  He  says,  that  soon  after  the  patent  was  passed,  and  whilst 
it  lay  in  the  Crown  Office,  he  was  summoned  to  appear  in  Parlia- 
ment, to  answer  what  was  to  be  objected  against  it ;  and  the  House 
being  in  a  committee,  and  Sir  Edward  Coke,  that  great  oracle  of  the 
law,  in  the  chair,  he  was  called  to  the  bar,  and  was  told  by  Sir 
Edward,  that  the  House  understood  that  a  patent  had  been  granted 
to  the  said  Ferdinando,  and  divers  other  noble  persons,  for  estab- 
lishing a  colony  in  New  England,  that  this  was  deemed  a  grievance 
of  the  Commonwealth,  contrary  to  the  laws,  and  to  the  privileges  of 
the  subject,  that  it  was  a  monopoly,  &c.  and  he  required  the  delivery 
of  the  patent  into  the  House.  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  made  no 
doubt  of  the  authority  of  the  House,  but  submitted  to  their  disposal 
of  the  patent,  as,  in  their  wisdom,  they  thought  good  ;  "  not  know- 
ing, under  favor,  how  any  action  of  that  kind  could  be  a  gi-ievance 
to  the  public,  seeing  it  was  undertaken  for  the  advancement  of  re- 
ligion, the  enlargement  of  the  bounds  of  our  nation,  &c.  He  was 
willing,  however,  to  submit  the  whole  to  their  honorable  censures." 
After  divers  attendances,  he  imagined  he  had  satisfied  the  House, 
that  the  planting  a  colony,  was  of  much  more  consequence,  than  a 
simple  disorderly  course  of  fishing.  He  was,  notwithstanding,  dis- 
appointed ;  and,  when  the  public  grievances  of  the  kingdom  were 
presented  by  the  two  Houses,  that  of  the  patent  for  New  England 
was  the  first.  I  do  not  know  how  the  Parliament  could  have  shewn 
more  fully  the  sense  they  then  had  of  their  authority  over  this  new 
acquired  territory ;  nor  can  we  expect  better  evidence  of  the  sense 
which  the  patentees  had  of  it,  for  I  know  of  no  historical  fact,  of 
which  we  have  less  reason  to  doubt. 

And  now,  gentlemen,  I  will  shew  you  how  it  appears  from  our 
charter  itself,  which  you  say,  I  have  not  yet  been  pleased  to  point 
out  to  you,  except  from  that  clause,  which  restrains  us  from  making 
laws  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  England  ;  that  it  was  the  sense  of  our 
predecessors,  at  tlie  time  when  the  charter  was  granted,  that  they 
were  to  remain  subject  to  the  supreme  authority  of  Parliament. 

Besides  this  clause,  which  I  shall  have  occasion  further  to  remark 
upon,  before  I  finish,  you  will  find,  that,  by  the  charter,  a  grant  was 
made,  of  exemption  from  all  taxes  and  impositions  upon  any  goods 


APPENDIX.  403 

imported  into  New  England,  or  exported  from  thence  into  England, 
for  the  space  of  twenty-one  years,  except  the  custom  of  five  per  cent, 
upon  snch  goods,  as,  after  the  expiration  of  seven  years,  should  he 
hroiight  into  England.  Nothing  can  be  more  plain,  than  that  the 
charter,  as  well  as  the  patent  to  the  Council  of  Plymouth,  constitutes 
a  corporation  in  England,  with  powers  to  create  a  subordinate  gov- 
ernment or  governments  within  the  plantation,  so  that  there  would 
always  be  subjects  of  taxes  and  impositions  both  in  the  kingdom  and 
in  the  plantation.  An  exemption  for  twenty-one  years,  implies  a 
right  of  imposition  after  the  expiration  of  the  term,  and  there  is  no 
distinction  between  the  kingdom  and  the  plantation.  By  what 
authority  then,  in  the  understanding  of  the  parties,  were  those  im- 
positions to  be  laid  ?  If  any,  to  support  a  system,  should  say  by  the 
King,  rather  than  to  acknowledge  the  authority  of  Parliament,  yet 
this  could  not  be  the  sense  of  one  of  our  principal  patentees,  Mr. 
Samuel  Vassal,  who,  at  that  instant,  1628,  the  date  of  the  charter, 
was  suffering  the  loss  of  his  goods,  rather  than  submit  to  an  imposi- 
tion laid  by  the  King,  without  the  authority  of  Parliament ;  and  to 
prove,  that  a  few  years  after,  it  could  not  be  the  sense  of  the  rest,  I 
need  only  to  refer  you  to  your  own  records  for  the  year  1642,  where 
you  will  find  an  order  of  the  House  of  Commons,  conceived  in  such 
terms,  as  discover  a  plain  reference  to  this  part  of  the  charter,  after 
fourteen  years  of  the  twenty-one  were  expired.  By  this  order,  the 
House  of  Commons  declare,  that  all  goods  and  merchandize  exported 
to  New  England,  or  imported  from  thence,  shall  be  free  from  all 
taxes  and  impositions,  both  in  the  kingdom  and  New  England,  until 
the  House  shall  take  further  order  therein  to  the  contrary.  The 
sense  which  our  predecessors  had  of  the  benefit  which  they  took 
from  this  order,  evidently  appears  from  the  vote  of  the  General 
Court,  acknowledging  their  humble  thankfulness,  and  preserving  a 
grateful  remembrance  of  the  honorable  respect  from  that  high  court, 
and  resolving,  that  the  order  sent  unto  them,  under  the  hand  of  the 
Clerk  of  the  honorable  House  of  Commons,  shall  be  entered  among 
their  public  records,  to  remain  there  unto  posterity.  And,  in  an 
address  to  Parliament,  nine  years  after,  they  acknowledge,  among 
other  undeserved  favors,  that  of  taking  off  the  customs  from  them. 

I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  what  your  ideas  could  be,  when  you  say, 
that  if  the  plantations  are  not  part  of  the  realm,  they  are  not  part 
of  tlie  kingdom,  seeing  the  two  words  can  properly  convey  but  one 
idea,   and  they   have  one  and    the    same    signification   in   the  dif- 


404  APPENDIX. 

ferent  languages  from  whence  they  are  derived.  I  do  not  charge 
you  with  any  design ;  but  the  equivocal  use  of  the  word  realm,  in 
several  parts  of  your  answer,  makes  them  perplexed  and  obscure. 
Sometimes  you  must  intend  the  Avhole  dominion,  which  is  subject  to 
the  authority  of  Parliament ;  sometimes  only  strictly  the  territorial 
realm  to  which  other  dominions  are,  or  may  be  annexed.  If  you  mean 
that  no  countries,  but  the  ancient  territorial  realm,  can,  constitu- 
tionally, be  subject  to  the  supreme  authority  of  England,  which  you 
have  very  incautiously  said,  is  a  rule  of  the  common  law  of  England  ; 
this  is  a  doctrine  which  you  will  never  be  able  to  supjiort.  That  the 
common  law  should  be  controled  and  changed  by  statutes,  every 
day's  experience  teaches,  but  that  the  common  law  2:)rescribes  limits 
to  the  extent  of  the  Legislative  power,  I  believe  has  never  been  said 
upon  any  other  occasion.  That  acts  of  Parliaments,  for  several 
hundred  years  past,  have  respected  countries,  which  are  not  strictly 
within  the  realm,  you  might  easily  have  discovered  by  the  statute 
books.  You  will  find  acts  for  regulating  the  affairs  of  Ireland, 
though  a  separate  and  distinct  kingdom.  Wales  and  Calais,  whilst 
they  sent  no  Representatives  to  Parliament,  were  subject  to  the  like 
regulations  ;  so  are  Guernsey,  Jersey,  Alderney,  &c.  which  send  no 
Members  to  this  day.  These  countries  are  not  more  properly  a  part 
of  the  ancient  realm,  than  the  plantations,  nor  do  I  know  they  can 
more  properly  be  said  to  be  annexed  to  the  realm,  unless  the  declar- 
ing that  acts  of  Parliament  shall  extend  to  Wales,  though  not  partic- 
ularly named,  shall  make  it  so,  which  I  conceive  it  does  not,  in  the 
sense  you  intend. 

Thus,  I  think,  I  have  made  it  appear  that  the  plantations,  though 
not  strictly  within  the  realm,  have,  from  the  beginning,  been  con- 
stitutionally subject  to  the  supreme  authority  of  the  realm,  and  are 
so  far  annexed  to  it,  as  to  be,  with  the  realm  and  the  other  depen- 
dencies upon  it,  one  entire  dominion  ;  and  that  the  plantation,  or 
colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay  in  particular,  is  holden  as  feudatory  of 
the  imperial  Crown  of  England.  Deem  it  to  be  no  part  of  the  realm, 
it  is  immaterial ;  for,  to  use  the  words  of  a  very  great  authority  in  a 
case,  in  some  respects  analogous,  "  being  feudatory,  the  conclusion 
necessarily  follows,  that  it  is  under  the  government  of  the  King's 
laws  and  the  King's  courts,  in  cases  proper  for  them  to  interpose, 
though  (like  Counties  Palatine)  it  has  peculiar  laws  and  customs, 
jura  regalia,  and  complete  jurisdiction  at  home." 

Your  remark  upon,  and  construction  of  the  words,  not  repugnant 


APPENDIX.  405 

to  the  laws  of  England,  are  much  the  same  with  those  of  the  Coun- 
cil ;  hut,  can  any  reason  he  assigned,  why  the  laws  of  England,  as 
they  stood  just  at  that  period,  should  he  pitched  upon  as  the  standard, 
more  than  at  any  other  period  ?  If  so,  why  was  it  not  recurred  to, 
when  the  second  charter  was  granted,  more  than  sixty  years  after  the 
first  ?  It  is  not  improhahle,  that  the  original  intention  might  he  a 
repugnancy  in  general,  and  a  fortiori,  such  laws  as  were  made  more 
immediately  to  res])ect  us,  hut  the  statute  of  7th  and  8th  of  King 
William  and  Queen  Mary,  soon  after  the  second  charter,  favors  the 
latter  construction  only  ;  and  the  province  agent,  Mr.  Dumraer,  in 
his  much  applauded  defence  of  the  charter,  says,  that,  then  a  law 
in  the  plantations  may  he  said  to  he  repugnant  to  a  law  made  in 
Great  Britain,  when  it  flatly  contradicts  it,  so  far,  as  the  law  made 
there,  mentions  and  relates  to  the  plantations.  But,  gentlemen, 
there  is  another  clause,  hoth  in  the  first  and  second  charter,  which, 
I  think,  will  serve  to  explain  this,  or  to  render  all  dispute  upon  the 
construction  of  it  unnecessary.  You  ai'e  enahled  to  impose  such 
oaths  only,  as  are  warrantable  hy,  or  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  and 
statutes  of  the  realm.  I  believe  you  wiU  not  contend,  that  these 
clauses  must  mean  such  oaths  only,  as  were  warrantable  at  the  re- 
spective times  when  the  charters  were  granted.  It  has  often  been 
found  necessary,  since  the  date  of  the  charters,  to  alter  the  forms  of 
the  oaths  to  the  government  by  acts  of  Parliament,  and  such  altera- 
tions have  always  been  conformed  to  in  the  plantations. 

Lest  you  should  think  that  I  admit  the  authority  of  King  Chai'les 
the  II.  in  givmg  his  assent  to  an  act  of  the  Assembly  of  Virginia, 
which  you  subjoin  to  the  authorities  of  James  the  I.  and  Charles  the 
I.  to  have  any  weight,  I  must  observe  to  you,  that  I  do  not  see  any 
greater  inconsistency  with  Magna  Charta,  in  the  King's  giving  his 
assent  to  an  act  of  a  subordinate  Legislature  immediately,  or  in  per- 
son, than  when  he  does  it  mediately  by  his  Governor  or  Substitute  ; 
but,  if  it  could  be  admitted,  that  such  an  assent  discovered  the 
King's  judgment  that  Virginia  was  independent,  would  you  lay  any 
stress  upon  it,  when  the  same  King  was,  from  time  to  time,  giving 
his  assent  to  acts  of  Parliament,  which  inferred  the  dependence  of 
all  the  colonies,  and  had  by  one  of  those  acts,  declared  the  planta- 
tions to  be  inhabited  and  peopled  by  his  Majesty's  subjects  of 
England  ? 

I  gave  you  no  reason  to  remark  upon  the  absurdity  of  grant  to  per- 
sons born  without  the  realm,  of  the  same  liberties  which  would  have 


406  APPENDIX. 

belonged  to  them,  if  they  had  been  born  within  the  realm ;  but 
rather  guarded  against  it,  by  considering  such  grant  as  declaratory 
only,  and  in  the  nature  of  an  assurance,  that  the  plantations  would 
be  considered  as  the  dominions  of  England.  But  is  there  no  ab- 
surdity in  a  grant  from  the  King  of  England,  of  the  liberties  and 
immunities  of  Englishmen  to  persons  born  in,  and  who  are  to  in- 
habit other  territories  than  the  dominions  of  England ;  and  would 
such  grant,  whether  by  charter,  or  other  letters  patent,  be  sufficient 
to  make  them  inheritable,  or  to  entitle  them  to  the  other  liberties 
and  immunities  of  Englishmen,  in  any  part  of  the  English  domin- 
ions? 

As  I  am  willing  to  rest  the  point  between  us,  upon  the  plantations 
having  been,  from  their  first  discovery  and  settlement  under  the 
Crown,  a  part  of  the  dominions  of  England,  I  shall  not  take  up  any 
time  in  remarking  upon  your  arguments,  to  show,  that  since  that 
time,  they  cannot  have  been  made  a  part  of  those  dominions. 

The  remaining  parts  of  your  answer,  are  principally  intended  to 
prove,  that  under  both  charters,  it  hath  been  the  sense  of  the  jjeople, 
that  they  were  not  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Parliament,  and, 
for  this  purpose,  you  have  made  large  extracts  from  the  history  of 
the  colony.  Whilst  you  are  doing  honor  to  the  book,  by  laying  any 
stress  upon  its  authority,  it  would  have  been  no  more  than  justice  to 
the  author,  if  you  had  cited  some  other  passages,  which  would  have 
tended  to  reconcile  the  passage  in  my  speech,  to  the  history.  I 
have  said,  that  except  about  the  time  of  the  anarchy,  which  preceded 
the  restoration  of  King  Charles  the  II.  I  have  not  discovered  that 
the  authority  of  Parliament  had  been  called  in  question,  even  by 
particular  persons.  It  was,  as  I  take  it,  from  the  principles  imbibed 
in  those  times  of  anarchy,  that  the  persons  of  influence,  mentioned 
in  the  history,  disputed  the  authority  of  Parliament,  but  the  govern- 
ment would  not  venture  to  dispute  it.  On  the  contrary,  in  four  or 
five  years  after  the  restoration,  the  government  declared  to  the 
King's  commissioners,  that  the  act  of  navigation  had  been  for  some 
years  observed  here,  that  they  knew  not  of  its  being  greatly  violated, 
and  that  such  laws  as  appeared  to  be  against  it,  were  repealed.  It  is 
not  strange,  that  these  persons  of  influence,  should  prevail  upon  a 
great  part  of  the  people  to  fall  in,  for  a  time,  witli  their  opinions, 
and  to  suppose  acts  of  the  colony  necessary  to  give  force  to  acts  of 
Parliament.  The  government,  however,  several  years  before  the 
charter  was  vacated,  more  explicitly  acknowledged  the  authority  of 


APPENDIX.  407 

Parliament,  and  voted  that  their  Governor  should  take  the  oath  re- 
quired of  liini,  faithfully  to  do,  and  perform  all  matters  and  things, 
enjoined  him  by  the  acts  of  trade.  I  have  not  recited  in  my  speech, 
all  those  particulars,  nor  had  I  them  all  in  my  mind  ;  but,  I  think,  I 
have  said  nothing-  inconsistent  with  them.  iNIy  principles  in  govern- 
ment, are  still  the  same,  with  what  they  appear  to  be  in  the  book, 
you  refer  to  ;  nor  am  I  conscious,  that  by  any  part  of  my  conduct,  I 
have  given  cause  to  suggest  the  contrary. 

Inasmuch,  as  you  say,  that  I  have  not  particularly  pointed  out  to 
you  the  acts  and  doings  of  the  General  Assembly,  which  relate 
to  acts  of  Parliament ;  I  will  do  it  now,  and  demonstrate  to  you, 
that  such  acts  have  been  acknowledged  by  the  Assembly,  or  submit- 
ted to  by  the  people. 

From  your  predecessors  removal  to  America,  mitil  the  year  1640, 
there  was  no  session  of  Parliament  ;  and  the  first  short  session,  of  a 
few  days  only,  in  1640,  and  the  whole  of  the  next  session,  until  the 
withdraw  of  the  King,  being  taken  up  in  the  disputes  between 
the  King  and  the  Parliament,  there  could  be  no  room  for  plantation 
affairs.  Soon  after  the  King's  withdraw,  the  House  of  Commons 
passed  the  memorable  order  of  1642  ;  and,  from  that  time  to  the 
restoration,  this  plantation  seems  to  have  been  distinguished  from 
the  rest ;  and  the  several  acts  and  ordinances,  wdiich  respected  the 
other  plantations,  were  never  enforced  here ;  and,  possibly,  under 
color  of  the  exemption,  in  1642,  it  might  not  be  intended  they  should 
be  executed. 

For  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  after  the  restoration,  there  was  no 
ofiicer  of  the  customs  in  the  colony,  except  the  Governor,  annually 
elected  by  the  people,  and  the  acts  of  trade  were  but  little  regarded  ; 
nor  did  the  Governor  take  the  oath  required  of  Governors,  by  the 
act  of  the  12th  of  King  Charles  the  II.  until  the  time  which  I  have 
mentioned.  Upon  the  revolution,  the  force  of  an  act  of  Parliament 
was  evident,  in  a  case  of  as  great  importance,  as  any  which  could 
happen  to  the  colony.  King  William  and  Queen  Mary  were  pro- 
claimed in  the  colony,  King  and  Queen  of  England,  France,  and 
Ireland,  and  the  dominions  thereunto  belonging,  in  the  room  of 
King  James  ;  and  this,  not  by  virtue  of  an  act  of  the  colony,  for  no 
such  act  ever  passed,  but  by  force  of  an  act  of  Parliament,  which 
altered  the  succession  to  the  Crown,  and  for  which,  the  people  waited 
several  weeks,  with  anxious  concern.  By  force  of  another  act  of 
Parliament,  and  that  only,  such  officers  of  the  colony  as  had  taken 


408  APPENDIX. 

the  oaths  of  allegiance  to  King  James,  deemed  themselves  at  liberty 
to  take,  and  accordingly  did  take,  the  oaths  to  King  William  and 
Queen  Mary.  And  that  I  may  mention  other  acts  of  the  like  nature 
together,  it  is  by  force  of  an  act  of  Parliament,  that  the  illustrious 
house  of  Hanover  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  Britain  and  its  do- 
minions, and  by  several  other  acts,  the  forms  of  the  oaths  have,  from 
time  to  time,  been  altered  ;  and,  by  a  late  act,  that  form  was  estab- 
lished which  every  one  of  us  has  complied  with,  as  the  charter,  in 
express  words,  requires,  and  makes  our  duty.  Shall  we  now  dis- 
pute, whether  acts  of  Parliament  have  been  submitted  to,  when  we 
find  them  submitted  to,  in  points  which  are  of  the  very  essence  of 
our  constitution  ?  If  you  should  disown  that  authority,  which  has 
power  even  to  change  the  succession  to  the  Crown,  are  you  in  no 
danger  of  denying  the  authority  of  our  most  gracious  Sovereign, 
which  I  am  sure  none  of  you  can  have  in  your  thoughts  ? 

I  think  I  have  before  shewn  you,  gentlemen,  what  must  have  been 
the  sense  of  our  predecessoi's,  at  the  time  of  the  first  charter ;  let  us 
now,  Avhilst  we  are  upon  the  acts  and  doings  of  the  Assembly,  con- 
sider what  it  must  have  been  at  the  time  of  the  second  charter. 
Upon  the  first  advice  of  the  revolution,  in  England,  the  authority 
which  assumed  the  government,  instructed  their  agents  to  petition 
Parliament  to  restore  the  first  charter,  and  a  bill  for  that  purpose, 
passed  the  House  of  Commons,  but  went  no  further.  Was  not  this 
owning  the  authority  of  Parliament  ?  By  an  act  of  Parliament, 
passed  in  the  first  year  of  King  William  and  Queen  Mary,  a  form 
of  oaths  was  established,  to  be  taken  by  those  Princes,  and  by  all 
succeeding  Kings  and  Queens  of  England,  at  their  coronation  ;  the 
first  of  wliich  is,  that  they  will  govern  the  people  of  the  kingdom, 
and  the  dominions  thereunto  belonging,  according  to  the  statutes  in 
Parliament  agreed  on,  and  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  same. 
When  the  colony  directed  their  agents  to  make  their  humble  appli- 
cation to  King  William,  to  grant  the  second  charter,  they  could  have 
no  other  pretence,  than,  as  they  were  inhabitants  of  part  of  the  do- 
minions of  England ;  and  they  also  knew  the  oath  the  King  had 
taken,  to  govern  them  according  to  the  statutes  in  Parliament. 
Surely,  then,  at  the  time  of  this  charter,  also,  it  was  the  sense  of  our 
predecessoi's,  as  well  as  of  the  King  and  of  the  nation,  that  there 
was,  and  would  remain,  a  supremacy  in  the  Parliament.  About  the 
same  time,  they  acknowledge,  in  an  address  to  the  King,  that  they 
have  no   power   to  make  laws  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  England. 


APPENDIX.  409 

And,  immediately  after  the  assumption  of  the  powers  of  government, 
by  virtue  of  the  new  charter,  an  act  was  passed  to  revive,  for  a 
limited  time,  all  the  local  laws  of  tlie  colonies  of  Massachusetts  Bay 
and  New  Plymouth,  respectively,  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  Eng- 
land. And,  at  the  same  session,  an  act  passed,  establishing  naval 
officers,  in  several  ports  of  the  province,  for  which,  this  reason  is 
given  ;  that  all  undue  trading,  contrary  to  an  act  of  Parliament, 
made  in  the  15th  year  of  King  Charles  the  II.  may  be  prevented  in 
this,  their  Majesty's  province.  The  act  of  this  province,  passed  so 
long  ago  as  the  second  year  of  King  George  the  I.  for  stating  the 
fees  of  the  custom  house  officers,  must  have  relation  to  the  acts  of 
Parliament,  by  which  they  are  constituted  ;  and  the  provision  made 
in  that  act  of  the  province,  for  extending  the  port  of  Boston  to  all 
the  roads,  as  far  as  Cape  Cod,  could  be  for  no  other  purpose,  than 
for  the  more  effectual  carrying  the  acts  of  trade  into  execution. 
And,  to  come  nearer  to  the  present  time,  when  an  act  of  Parliament 
had  passed,  in  1771,  for  putting  an  end  to  certain  unwarrantable 
schemes,  in  this  province,  did  the  authority  of  government,  or  those 
persons  more  immediately  affected  by  it,  ever  dispute  the  validity  of 
it  ?  On  the  contrary,  have  not  a  number  of  acts  been  passed  in  the 
province,  that  the  burdens  to  which  such  persons  were  subjected, 
might  be  equally  apportioned  ;  and  have  not  all  those  acts  of  the 
province  been  very  carefully  framed,  to  prevent  their  militating 
with  the  act  of  Parliament  ?  I  will  mention,  also,  an  act  of  Parlia- 
ment, made  in  the  first  year  of  Queen  Anne,  although  the  proceed- 
ings upon  it.  more  immediately  respected  the  Council.  By  this  act, 
no  office,  civil  or  military,  shall  be  void,  by  the  death  of  the  King, 
but  shall  continue  six  months,  unless  suspended,  or  made  void,  by 
the  next  successor.  By  force  of  this  act.  Governor  Dudley  con- 
tinued in  the  administration  six  months  from  the  demise  of  Queen 
Anne,  and  immediately  after,  the  Council  assumed  the  administra- 
tion, and  continued  it,  until  a  proclamation  arrived  from  King 
George,  by  virtue  of  which,  Governor  Dudley  reassumed  the  govern- 
ment. It  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate  the  addresses,  votes  and 
messages,  of  both  the  Council  and  House  of  Representatives,  to  the 
same  purpose.  I  have  said  enough  to  shew  that  this  government 
has  submitted  to  Parliament,  from  a  conviction  of  its  constitutional 
supremacy,  and  this  not  from  inconsideration,  nor  merely  from  re- 
luctance at  the  idea  of  contending  with  the  parent  state. 

If,  then,  I  have  made  it  appear,  that  both  by  the  first  and  second 


410  APPENDIX. 

charters,  we  hold  our  lands,  and  the  authority  of  government,  not 
of  the  King,  but  of  the  Crown  of  England,  that  being  a  dominion 
of  the  Crown  of  England,  we  are  consequently  subject  to  the  su- 
preme authority  of  England.  That  this  hath  been  the  sense  of  this 
plantation,  except  in  those  few  years  when  the  principles  of  anarchy, 
which  had  prevailed  in  the  kingdom,  had  not  lost  their  influence 
here ;  and  if,  upon  a  review  of  your  principles,  they  shall  appear  to 
you  to  have  been  delusive  and  erroneous,  as  I  think  they  must,  or, 
if  you  shall  only  be  in  doubt  of  them,  you  certainly  will  not  draw 
that  conclusion,  which  otherwise  you  might  do,  and  which  I  am  glad 
you  have  hitherto  avoided ;  especially  when  you  consider  the 
obvious  and  inevitable  distress  and  misery  of  independence  upon  our 
mother  country,  if  such  independence  could  be  allowed  or  main- 
tained, and  the  probability  of  much  greater  distress,  which  we  are 
not  able  to  foresee. 

You  ask  me,  if  we  have  not  reason  to  fear  we  shall  soon  be 
reduced  to  a  worse  situation  than  that  of  the  colonies  of  France, 
Spain,  or  Holland.  I  may  safely  affirm  that  we  have  not ;  that  we 
have  no  reason  to  fear  any  evils  from  a  submission  to  the  authority 
of  Parliament,  etpial  to  what  we  must  feel  from  its  authority  being 
disputed,  from  an  uncertain  rule  of  law  and  government.  For 
more  than  seventy  years  together,  the  suj^remacy  of  Parliament  was 
acknowledged,  without  complaints  of  grievance.  The  effect  of  ever)'- 
measure  cannot  be  foreseen  by  human  wisdom.  What  can  be 
expected  more,  from  any  authority,  than,  when  the  unfitness  of  a 
measure  is  discovered,  to  make  it  void  ?  When,  upon  the  united 
representations  and  complaints  of  the  American  colonies,  any  acts 
have  appeared  to  Parliament,  to  be  unsalutary,  have  there  not  been 
repeated  instances  of  the  repeal  of  such  acts  ?  We  cannot  expect 
these  instances  should  be  carried  so  far,  as  to  be  equivalent  to  a  dis- 
avowal, or  relinquishment  of  the  right  itself.  Why,  then,  shall  we 
fear  for  ourselves,  and  our  posterity,  greater  rigor  of  government  for 
seventy  j^ears  to  come,  than  what  we,  and  our  predecessors  have 
felt,  in  the  seventy  years  past  ? 

You  must  give  me  leave,  gentlemen,  in  a  few  words,  to  vindicate 
myself  from  a  charge,  in  one  part  of  your  answer,  of  having,  by  my 
speech,  reduced  you  to  the  unhappy  alternative  of  apjiearing,  by 
your  silence,  to  acquiesce  in  my  sentiments,  or  of  freely  discussing 
this  point  of  the  supremacy  of  Parliament.  I  saw,  as  I  have  before 
observed,  the  capital  town  of  the  province,  without  being  reduced 


APPENDIX.  411 

to  such  an  alternative,  voluntarily,  not  only  discussing  but  deter- 
mining this  point,  and  inviting  every  other  town  and  district  in 
the  province  to  do  the  like.  I  saw  that  many  of  the  principal  towns 
had  followed  the  exami)le,  and  that  there  was  imminent  danger  of 
a  compliance  in  most,  if  not  all  the  rest,  in  order  to  avoid  being 
distinguished.  Was  not  I  reduced  to  the  alternative  of  rendering 
myself  justly  obnoxious  to  the  displeasure  of  my  Sovereign,  by  ac- 
quiescing in  such  irregularities,  or  of  calling  upon  you  to  join  with 
me  in  suppressing  them  ?  Might  I  not  rather  have  expected  from 
you  an  expression  of  your  concern,  that  any  persons  should  project 
and  prosecute  a  plan  of  measures,  which  would  lay  me  under  the 
necessity  of  bringing  this  point  before  you  ?  It  was  so  far  from 
being  my  inclination,  that  nothing  short  of  a  sense  of  my  duty  to 
the  King,  and  the  obligations  I  am  under  to  consult  your  true  inter- 
est, could  have  compelled  me  to  it. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Council,  and 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 

We  all  i>rofess  to  be  the  loyal  and  dutiful  subjects  of  the  King 
of  Great  Britain.  His  Majesty  considers  the  British  emjiire  as  one 
entire  dominion,  subject  to  one  supreme  legislative  power ;  a  due 
submission  to  which,  is  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  the  rights, 
liberties,  and  privileges  of  the  several  parts  of  this  dominion.  We 
have  abundant  evidence  of  his  Majesty's  tender  and  impartial 
regard  to  the  rights  of  his  subjects  ;  and  I  am  authorized  to  say, 
that  "  his  Majesty  will  most  graciously  approve  of  every  constitu- 
tional measure  that  may  contribute  to  the  peace,  the  happiness,  and 
prosperity  of  his  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  which  may  have 
the  effect  to  shew  to  tlie  world,  that  he  has  no  wish  beyond  that  of 
reigning  in  the  hearts  and  affections  of  his  people." 

T.    HUTCHIXSOX. 

ANSAYER  OF  THE  COUNCIL  TO  THE  SPEECH  OF  GOVERNOR 
HUTCHINSON,  OF  FEBRUARY  SIXTEENTH  ....  FEBRUARY 
25,  1773. 

May  it  please  your  Excellency, 

As  a  small  part  only  of  your  Excellency's  last  speech  to  both 
Houses,  is  addressed  to  the  Board,  there  are  but  a  few  clauses  on 
which  we  shall  remai'k. 

With  regard  to  the  disorders  that  have  arisen,  your  Excellency 


412  APPENDIX. 

and  the  Board,  have  assigned  different  causes.  The  cause  you  are 
pleased  to  assign,  together  with  the  disorders  themselves,  we  sup- 
pose to  be  effects,  arising  from  the  stamp  act,  and  certain  other  acts 
of  Parliament.  If  we  were  not  mistaken  in  this,  which  you  do  not 
assert,  it  so  far  seems  to  invalidate  what  is  said  in  your  sjieech,  on 
that  head. 

We  have  taken  notice  of  this  only,  because  it  stands  connected 
with  another  matter,  on  which  we  would  make  a  few  further  ob- 
servations. What  we  refer  to,  is  the  general  nature  of  supreme 
authority.  We  have  already  offered  reasons,  in  which  your  Ex- 
cellency seem  to  acquiesce,  to  shew  that,  though  the  term  supreme, 
sometimes  carries  with  it  the  idea  of  unlimited  authority,  it  cannot, 
in  that  sense,  be  applied  to  that  which  is  human.  What  is  usually 
denominated  the  supreme  authority  of  a  nation,  must  nevertheless 
be  limited  in  its  acts  to  the  objects  that  are  j^roperly  or  constitu- 
tionally cognizable  by  it.  To  illustrate  our  meaning,  we  beg  leave 
to  quote  a  passage  from  your  speech,  at  the  opening  of  the  session, 
where  your  Excellency  says,  "  so  much  of  the  spirit  of  liberty 
breathes  through  all  parts  of  the  English  constitution,  that,  although 
from  the  nature  of  government,  there  must  be  one  supreme  au- 
thority over  the  whole,  yet,  this  constitution  will  admit  of  subordi- 
nate powers,  with  legislative  and  executive  authority,  greater  or 
less,  according  to  local  and  other  circumstances."  This  is  very 
true,  and  implies  that  the  legislative  and  executive  authority  granted 
to  the  subordinate  powers,  should  extend  and  operate,  as  far  as  the 
grant  allows ;  and  that,  if  it  does  not  exceed  the  limits  prescribed 
to  it,  and  no  forfeiture  be  incurred,  the  supreme  power  has  no  right- 
ful authority  to  take  away  or  diminish  it,  or  to  substitute  its  own 
acts,  in  cases  wherein  the  acts  of  the  subordinate  power  can,  accord- 
ing to  its  constitution,  operate.  To  suppose  the  contrary,  is  to  sup- 
pose, that  it  has  no  property  in  the  privileges  granted  to  it ;  for,  if 
it  holds  them  at  the  will  of  the  supreme  power,  which  it  must  do, 
by  the  above  supposition,  it  can  have  no  property  in  them.  Upon 
which  principle,  which  involves  the  contradiction,  that  what  is 
granted,  is,  in  reality,  not  granted,  no  subordinate  power  can  exist. 
But,  as  in  fact,  the  two  powers  are  not  incompatible,  and  do  subsist 
together,  each  restraining  its  acts  to  their  constitutional  objects,  can 
we  not  from  hence,  see  how  the  supreme  power  may  supervise,  reg- 
ulate, and  make  general  laws  for  the  kingdom,  without  interfering 
with  the  privileges  of  the  subordinate  powers  within  it  ?     And  also, 


APPENDIX.  413 

see  how  it  may  extend  its  care  and  protection  to  its  colonies,  without 
injuring  their  constitutional  rights  ?  What  has  been  here  said,  con- 
cerning supreme  authority,  has  no  reference  to  the  manner  in  which 
it  has  been,  in  fact,  exercised  ;  but  is  wholly  confined  to  its  general 
nature.  And,  if  it  conveys  any  just  idea  of  it,  the  inferences  that 
have  been,  at  any  time,  deduced  from  it,  injurious  to  the  rights  of 
the  colonists,  are  not  well  founded ;  and  have,  probably,  arisen  from 
a  misconception  of  the  nature  of  that  authority. 

Your  Excellency  represents  us,  as  introducing  a  number  of  au- 
thorities, merely  to  shew,  that  "  all  taxes  upon  English  subjects,  must 
be  levied  by  virtue  of  the  act,  not  of  the  King  alone,  but  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  Lords  and  Commons  ;  "  and,  are  pleased  to  add,  that 
"  you  should  very  readily  have  allowed  it  ;  and  you  should  as  readily 
have  allowed,  that  all  other  acts  of  legislation,  must  be  passed  by  the 
same  joint  authority,  and  not  by  the  King  alone."  Your  Excellency 
"  would  have  saved  us  the  trouble  of  all  those  authorities ;  "  and, 
on  our  part,  we  should  have  been  as  willing  to  have  saved  your 
Excellency  the  ti'ouble  of  dismembering  our  argument,  and  from 
thence,  taking  occasion  to  represent  it  in  a  disadvantageous  light,  or 
rather,  totally  destroying  it. 

In  justice  to  ourselves,  it  is  necessary  to  recapitulate  that  argu- 
ment, adduced  to  prove  the  inhabitants  of  this  province  are  not, 
constitutionally,  subject  to  Parliamentary  taxation.  In  order  thereto, 
we  recurred  to  Magna  Charta,  and  other  authorities.  And  the  argu- 
ment abridged,  stands  thus  :  that,  from  those  authorities,  it  appears 
an  essential  part  of  the  English  constitution,  "  that  no  tallage,  or  aid, 
or  tax,  shall  be  laid  or  levied,  without  the  good  will  and  assent  of 
the  freemen  of  the  commonalty  of  the  realm."  That,  from  com- 
mon law,  and  the  province  charter,  the  inhabitants  of  this  jirovince 
are  clearly  entitled  to  all  the  rights  of  free  and  natural  subjects, 
within  the  realm.  That,  among  those  rights,  must  be  included 
the  essential  one  just  mentioned,  concerning  aids  and  taxes  ;  and 
therefore,  that  no  aids  or  taxes  can  be  levied  on  us,  constitutionally, 
without  our  own  consent,  signified  by  our  representatives.  From 
whence,  the  conclusion  is  clear,  that  therefore,  the  inhabitants  of  tliis 
province  are  not,  constitutionally,  subject  to  Parliamentary  taxation. 

We  did  not  bring  those  authorities  to  shew  the  tax  acts,  or  any 
other  acts  of  Parliament,  in  order  to  their  validity,  must  have  the 
concurrence  of  King,  Lords,  and  Commons  ;  but  to  shew,  that  it 
has  been,  at  least  from  the  time  of  Magna  Charta,  an  essential  right 


414  APPENDIX. 

of  free  subjects  within  the  reahii,  to  be  free  from  all  taxes,  but  such 
as  were  laid  with  their  own  consent.  And  it  was  proper  to  shew 
this,  as  the  rights  and  liberties,  granted  by  the  province  charter, 
were  to  be  equally  extensive,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  with  those 
enjoyed  by  free  and  natural  subjects  within  the  realm.  Therefore, 
to  shew  our  own  right  in  relation  to  taxes,  it  was  necessary  to  shew 
the  rights  of  freemen  within  the  realm,  in  relation  to  them ;  and  for 
this  purpose,  those  authorities  were  brought,  and  not  impertinently, 
as  we  humbly  apprehend.  Nor  have  we  seen  reason  to  change  our 
sentiments  with  respect  to  this  matter,  or  any  other  contained  in  our 
answer  to  your  Excellency's  speech. 

In  the  last  clause  of  your  speech,  your  Excellency  informs  the 
two  Houses,  "  you  are  authorized  to  say,  that  his  Majesty  will  most 
graciously  approve  of  every  constitutional  measure,  that  may  con- 
tribute to  the  peace,  the  happiness,  and  prosperity  of  his  colony  of 
Massachusetts  Bay."  We  have  the  highest  sense  of  his  Majesty's 
goodness  in  his  gracious  disposition  to  appi'ove  of  such  measures, 
which,  as  it  includes  his  approbation  of  the  constitutional  rights  of 
his  subjects  of  this  colony,  manifests  his  inclination  to  protect  them 
in  those  rights  ;  and  to  remove  the  incroachments  that  have  been 
made  upon  them.  Of  this  act  of  royal  goodness,  they  are  not  wholly 
unworthy,  as  in  regard  to  loyalty,  duty,  and  affection  to  his  Majesty, 
they  stand  among  the  foremost  of  his  faithful  subjects. 

[The  committee  who  prepared  this  answer,  were,  Mr.  Bowdoin, 
Col.  Otis,  Mr.  Dexter,  Col.  Ward,  and  Mr.  Spooner.] 

ANSWER  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  TO  THE  SPEECH 
OF  THE  GOVERNOR,  OF  FEBRUARY  SIXTEENTH.  .  .  .  MARCH 
2,  1773. 

May  it  please  your  Excellency^ 

In  your  speech,  at  the  opening  of  the  present  session,  your  Ex- 
cellency expressed  your  displeasure,  at  some  late  proceedings  of  the 
town  of  Boston,  and  other  principal  towns  in  the  province.  And, 
in  another  speech  to  both  Houses,  we  have  your  repeated  exceptions 
at  the  same  proceedings,  as  being  "unwarrantable,"  and  of  a  dan- 
gerous nature  and  tendency ;  "  against  which,  you  thought  yourself 
bound  to  call  upon  us  to  join  with  you  in  bearing  a  proper  testi- 
mony." This  House  have  not  discovered  any  principles  advanced 
by  the  town  of  Boston,  that  are  unwarrantable  by  the  constitution  ; 


APPENDIX.  415 

nor  does  it  appear  to  us,  that  they  have  "  invited  every  other  town 
and  distrinct  in  the  province,  to  adopt  their  principles."  We  are 
fully  convinced,  that  it  is  our  duty  to  bear  our  testimony  against 
"  innovations,  of  a  dangerous  nature  and  tendency ;  "  but,  it  is 
clearly  our  opinion,  that  it  is  the  indisputable  right  of  all,  or  any 
of  his  Majesty's  subjects,  in  this  province,  regularly  and  orderly  to 
meet  together,  to  state  the  grievances  they  labor  under ;  and,  to 
propose,  and  unite  in  such  constitutional  measures,  as  they  shall 
judge  necessary  or  proper,  to  obtain  redress.  This  right  has  been 
frequently  exercised  by  his  Majesty's  subjects  within  the  realm ; 
and,  we  do  not  recollect  an  instance,  since  the  happy  revolution, 
when  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament  have  been  called  upon  to  dis- 
countenance, or  bear  their  testimony  against  it,  in  a  speech  from  the 
throne. 

Your  Excellency  is  pleased  to  take  notice  of  some  things,  which 
we  "  allege,"  in  our  answer  to  your  first  sjieech ;  and,  the  obser- 
vation you  make,  we  must  confess,  is  as  natural,  and  undeniably 
true,  as  any  one  that  could  have  been  made  ;  that,  "  if  our  foun- 
dation shall  fail  us  in  every  part  of  it,  the  fabric  we  have  raised 
upon  it,  must  certainly  fall."  You  think  this  foundation  will  fail 
us  ;  but,  we  wish  your  Excellency  had  condescended  to  a  consider- 
ation of  what  we  have  "  adduced  in  supj^ort  of  our  principles." 
We  might  then,  perhaps,  have  had  some  things  offered  for  our 
conviction,  more  than  bare  affirmations  ;  which,  we  must  beg  to  be 
excused,  if  we  say,  are  far  from  being  sufficient,  though  they  came 
■with  your  Excellency's  authority,  for  which,  however,  we  have  a 
due  regard. 

Your  Excellency  says,  that,  "  as  English  subjects,  and  agreeable 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  feudal  tenure,  all  our  lands  are  held  medi- 
ately, or  immediately,  of  the  Crown."  We  trust,  your  Excellency 
does  not  mean  to  introduce  the  feudal  system  in  its  perfection  ; 
which,  to  use  the  words  of  one  of  our  greatest  historians,  was  "  a 
state  of  perpetual  war,  anarchy,  and  confusion,  calculated  solely  for 
defense  against  the  assaults  of  any  foreign  power  ;  but,  in  its  pro- 
vision for  the  interior  order  and  tranquillity  of  society,  extremely 
defective.  A  constitution,  so  contradictory  to  all  the  principles  that 
govern  mankind,  could  never  be  brought  about,  but  by  foreign  con- 
quest or  native  usurpation."  And,  a  very  celebrated  writer  calls  it, 
"  that  most  iniquitous  and  absurd  form  of  government,  by  which 
human  nature  was  so  shamefully  degraded."     This  system  of  in- 


416  APPENDIX. 

iquity,  by  a  strange  kind  of  fatality,  "  though  originally  formed  for 
an  encampment,  and  for  military  23urposes  only,  sjjread  over  a  great 
part  of  Europe ; "  and,  to  serve  the  purposes  of  oppression  and 
tyranny,  "  was  adopted  by  princes,  and  wrought  into  their  civil  con- 
stitutions;" and,  aided  by  the  canon  law,  calculated  by  the  Roman 
Pontiff,  to  exalt  himself  above  all  that  is  called  God,  it  prevailed  to 
the  almost  utter  extinction  of  knowledge,  virtue,  religion,  and  lib- 
erty from  that  part  of  the  earth.  But,  from  the  time  of  the  refor- 
mation, in  proportion  as  knowledge,  which  then  darted  its  rays  upon 
the  benighted  world,  increased,  and  spread  among  the  people,  they 
grew  impatient  under  tliis  heavy  yoke ;  and  the  most  virtuous  and 
sensible  among  them,  to  whose  steadfastness,  we,  in  this  distant  age 
and  climate,  are  greatly  indebted,  were  determined  to  get  rid  of 
it ;  and,  though  they  have  in  a  great  measure  subdued  its  power 
and  influence  in  England,  they  have  never  yet  totally  eradicated  its 
principles. 

Upon  these  principles,  the  King  claimed  an  absolute  right  to,  and 
a  perfect  estate,  in  all  the  lands  within  his  dominions  ;  but,  how  he 
came  by  this  absolute  right  and  perfect  estate,  is  a  mystery  which 
we  have  never  seen  unravelled,  nor  is  it  our  business  or  design,  at 
present,  to  inquire.  He  granted  parts  or  parcels  of  it  to  his  friends, 
the  great  men,  and  they  granted  lesser  parcels  to  their  tenants.  All, 
therefore,  derived  their  i-ight  and  held  their  lands,  upon  these  prin- 
ciples, mediately  or  immediately  of  the  King ;  which  Mr.  Black- 
stone,  however,  calls,  "  in  reality,  a  mere  fiction  of  our  English 
tenures." 

By  what  right,  in  nature  and  reason,  the  christian  princes  in  Eu- 
rope, claimed  the  lands  of  heathen  people,  upon  a  discovery  made 
by  any  of  their  subjects,  is  equally  mysterious.  Such,  however,  was 
the  doctrine  universally  prevailing,  when  the  lands  in  America  were 
discovered  ;  but,  as  the  people  of  England,  upon  those  pi'inciples, 
held  all  the  lands  they  possessed,  by  grants  from  the  King,  and  the 
King  had  never  granted  the  lands  in  America  to  them,  it  is  certain 
they  could  have  no  sort  of  claim  to  them.  Upon  the  j^rinciples  ad- 
vanced, the  lordship  and  dominion,  like  that  of  the  lands  in  England, 
was  in  the  King  solely ;  and  a  right  from  thence  accrued  to  him,  of 
disposing  such  territories,  under  such  tenure,  and  for  such  services 
to  be  performed,  as  the  King  or  Lord  thought  proper.  But  how 
the  grantees  became  subjects  of  England,  that  is,  the  supreme  au- 
thority of  the  Parliament,  your  Excellency  has  not  explained  to  us. 


APPENDIX.  417 

We  conceive  that  upon  the  feudal  principles,  all  power  is  in  the 
King ;  they  afford  us  no  idea  of  Favliament.  *'  The  Lord  was  in 
early  times,  the  Legislator  and  Judge  over  all  his  feudatories,"  says 
Judge  Blackstone.  By  the  struggle  for  liberty  in  England,  from 
the  days  of  King  John,  to  the  last  happy  revolution,  the  constitu- 
tion has  been  gradually  changing  for  the  better  ;  and  upon  the  more 
rational  principles,  that  all  men,  by  nature,  are  in  a  state  of  equality 
in  respect  of  jurisdiction  and  dominion,  power  in  England  has  been 
more  equally  divided.  And  thus,  also,  in  America,  though  we  hold 
our  lands  agreeably  to  the  feudal  princijjles  of  the  King  ;  yet  our 
predecessors  wisely  took  care  to  enter  into  compact  with  the  King, 
that  jjower  here  should  also  be  equally  divided,  agreeable  to  the 
original  fundamental  principles  of  the  English  constitution,  declared 
in  Magna  Charta,  and  other  laws  and  statutes  of  England,  made  to 
confirm  them. 

Your  Excellency  saj^s,  "  you  can  by  no  means  concede  to  us  that 
it  is  now,  or  was,  when  the  plantations  were  first  granted,  the  pre- 
rogative of  the  Kings  of  England,  to  constitute  a  number  of  new 
governments,  altogether  independent  of  the  sovereign  authority  of 
the  English  emjjire."  By  the  feudal  principles,  upon  which  you  say 
"  all  the  grants  which  have  been  made  of  America,  are  founded,  the 
constitutions  of  the  Empire,  have  the  force  of  law."  If  our  gov- 
ernment be  considered  as  merely  feudatory,  we  are  subject  to  the 
King's  absolute  will,  and  there  is  no  authority  of  Parliament,  as  the 
sovereign  authority  of  the  British  empire.  Upon  these  principles, 
what  could  hinder  the  King's  constituting  a  number  of  independent 
governments  in  America  ?  That  King  Charles  the  I.  did  actually 
set  up  a  government  in  this  colony,  conceding  to  it  powers  of  mak- 
ing and  executing  laws,  without  any  reservation  to  the  English  Par- 
liament, of  authoi-ity  to  make  future  laws  binding  therein,  is  a  fact 
which  your  Excellency  has  not  disproved,  if  you  have  denied  it. 
Nor  have  you  shewn  that  the  Parliament  or  nation  objected  to  it ; 
from  whence  we  have  inferred  that  it  was  an  acknowledged  right. 
And  we  cannot  conceive,  why  the  King  has  not  the  same  right  to 
alienate  and  dispose  of  countries  acquired  by  the  discovery  of  his 
subjects,  as  he  has  to  "  restore,  upon  a  treaty  of  peace,  countries 
which  have  been  acquired  in  war,"  carried  on  at  the  charge  of  the 
nation ;  or  to  "  sell  and  deliver  up  any  part  of  the  dominions  to  a 
foreign  Prince  or  state,  against  the  general  sense  of  the  nation  ;  " 
which  is  "  an  act  of  power,"  or  prerogative,  which  your  Excellency 


418  APPENDIX. 

allows.  You  tell  us,  that,  "  when  any  new  countries  are  discovered 
by  English  subjects,  according  to  the  general  law  and  usage  of 
nations,  they  become  part  of  the  state."  The  law  of  nations  is,  or 
ought  to  be,  founded  on  the  law  of  reason.  It  was  the  saying  of 
Sir  Edwin  Saudis,  in  the  great  case  of  the  union  of  the  realm  of 
Scotland  with  England,  which  is  applicable  to  our  present  purpose, 
that  "  there  being  no  precedent  for  this  case  in  the  law,  the  law  is 
deficient ;  and  the  law  being  deficient,  recourse  is  to  be  had  to  cus- 
tom ;  and  custom  being  insufiicient,  we  must  recur  to  natural  rea- 
son ;  "  the  greatest  of  all  authorities,  which,  he  adds,  ''  is  the  law  of 
nations."  The  opinions,  therefore,  and  determinations  of  the  great- 
est Sages  and  Judges  of  the  law  in  the  Exchequer  Chamber,  ought 
not  to  be  considered  as  decisive  or  binding,  in  our  jn'esent  contro- 
versy with  your  Excellency,  any  further,  than  they  are  consonant  to 
natural  reason.  If,  however,  we  were  to  recur  to  such  ojiinions  and 
determinations,  we  should  find  very  great  authorities  in  our  favor, 
to  show,  that  the  statutes  of  England  are  not  binding  on  those  who 
are  not  represented  in  Parliament  there.  The  opinion  of  Lord 
Coke,  that  Ireland  was  bound  by  statutes  of  England,  wherein  they 
were  named,  if  compared  wath  his  other  writings,  appears  manifestly 
to  be  grounded  upon  a  supposition,  that  Ireland  had,  by  an  act  of 
their  own,  in  the  reign  of  King  John,  consented  to  be  thus  bound  ; 
and,  upon  any  other  supposition,  this  opinion  would  be  against  rea- 
son ;  for  consent  only  gives  human  laws  their  force.  We  beg  leave, 
upon  what  your  Excellency  has  observed  of  the  colony  becoming  a 
part  of  the  state,  to  subjoin  the  opinions  of  several  learned  civilians, 
as  quoted  by  a  very  able  lawyer  in  this  country.  "  Colonies,"  says 
Puffendorf,  "  are  settled  in  different  methods  ;  for,  either  the  colony 
continues  a  part  of  the  Commonwealth  it  w^as  set  out  from,  or  else 
is  obliged  to  pay  a  dutiful  regard  to  the  mother  Commonwealth, 
and  to  be  in  readiness  to  defend  and  vindicate  its  honor,  and  so  is 
united  by  a  sort  of  unequal  confederacy ;  or,  lastly,  is  erected  into 
a  sejiarate  Commonwealth,  and  assumes  the  same  rights,  with  the 
state  it  descended  from."  And,  King  Tullius,  as  quoted  by  the 
same  learned  author,  from  Grotius,  says,  "  we  look  upon  it  to  be 
neither  truth  nor  justice,  that  mother  cities,  ought,  of  necessity,  and 
by  the  law  of  nature,  to  rule  over  the  colonies." 

Your  Excellency  has  misinterpreted  what  we  have  said,  "  that  no 
country,  by  the  common  law,  was  subject  to  the  laws  or  the  Parlia- 
ment, but  the  realm  of  England ;  "  and,  are  pleased  to  teU  us,  "  that 


APPENDIX.  419 

we  have  expressed  ourselves  incautiously."  We  beg  leave  to  recite 
the  words  of  the  Judges  of  England,  in  the  before  mentioned  case, 
to  our  puri)ose.  '•  If  a  King  go  out  of  England  with  a  coni])any  of 
his  servants,  allegiance  remaineth  among  his  subjects  and  servants, 
although  he  be  out  of  his  realm,  whereto  his  laws  are  confined." 
We  did  not  mean  to  say,  as  your  Excellency  would  suppose,  that 
''  the  common  law  prescribes  limits  to  the  extent  of  the  Legislative 
power,"  though,  we  shall  always  aflSrm  it  to  be  true,  of  the  law  of 
reason  and  natural  equity.  Your  Excellency  thinks,  you  have  made 
it  appear,  that  the  "  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay  is  holden  as  feud- 
atory of  the  imperial  Crown  of  England  ;"  and,  therefore,  you  say, 
"  to  use  the  words  of  a  very  great  authority  in  a  case,  in  some 
respects  analogous  to  it,"  being  feudatory,  it  necessarily  follows,  that 
"it  is  under  the  government  of  the  King's  laws."  Your  Excellency 
has  not  named  this  authority  ;  but.  we  conceive  his  meaning  must  be, 
that  being  feudatory,  it  is  under  the  government  of  the  King's  laws 
absolutely,  for,  as  we  have  before  said,  the  feudal  system  admits  of 
no  idea  of  the  authority  of  Parliament ;  and  this  would  have  been 
the  case  of  the  colony,  but  for  the  compact  with  the  King  in  the 
charter. 

Your  Excellency  says,  that  "  persons  thus  holding  under  the 
Crown  of  England,  remain,  or  become  subjects  of  England,"  by 
which,  we  suppose  your  Excellency  to  mean,  subject  to  the  supreme 
authority  of  Parliament,  "  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  fully,  as  if 
any  of  the  royal  manors,  &c.  within  the  realm,  had  been  granted  to 
them  upon  the  like  tenure."  We  apprehend,  with  submission,  your 
Excellency  is  mistaken  in  supposing  that  our  allegiance  is  due  to  the 
Crown  of  England.  Every  man  swears  allegiance  for  himself,  to 
his  o\^'n  King,  in  his  natural  person.  "  Every  subject  is  presumed 
by  law  to  be  sworn  to  the  King,  which  is  to  his  natural  person,"  says 
Lord  Coke.  Rep.  on  Calvin's  case.  ''  The  allegiance  is  due  to  his 
natural  body  ;  "  and,  he  says,  "  in  the  reign  of  Edward  II.  the  Spen- 
cers, the  father  and  the  son,  to  cover  the  treason  hatched  in  their 
hearts,  invented  this  damnable  and  damned  opinion,  that  homage 
and  oath  of  allegiance  was  more  by  reason  of  the  King's  Crown, 
that  is,  of  his  politic  capacity,  than  by  reason  of  the  person  of  the 
King ;  upon  Avhich  opinion,  they  inferred  execrable  and  detestable 
consequents."  The  Judges  of  England,  all  but  one,  in  the  case  of 
the  union  between  Scotland  and  England,  declared,  that  "  allegiance 
f  oUoweth  the  natural  person,  not  the  politic  ;  "  and,  "  to  prove  the 


420  APPENDIX. 

allegiance  to  be  tied  to  the  body  natural  of  the  King,  and  not  to  the 
body  politic,  the  Lord  Coke  cited  the  phrases  of  divers  statutes, 
mentioning  our  natural  liege  Sovereign."  If,  then,  the  homage  and 
allegiance  is  not  to  the  body  politic  of  the  King,  then  it  is  not  to  him 
as  the  head,  or  any  part  of  that  Legislative  authority,  which  your 
Excellency  says,  "  is  equally  extensive  with  the  authority  of  the 
Crown  throughout  every  part  of  the  dominion  ; "  and  your  Excel- 
lency's observations  thereupon,  must  fail.  The  same  Judges  mention 
the  allegiance  of  a  subject  to  the  Kings  of  England,  who  is  out  of 
the  reach  and  extent  of  the  laws  of  England,  which  is  perfectly 
reconcileable  with  tlie  principles  of  our  ancestors,  quoted  before  from 
your  Excellency's  history,  but,  upon  your  Excellency's  jirinciples, 
appears  to  us  to  be  an  absurdity.  The  Judges,  speaking  of  a  sub- 
ject, say,  "  although  his  birth  was  out  of  the  bounds  of  the  kingdom 
of  England,  and  out  of  the  reach  and  extent  of  the  laws  of  England, 
yet,  if  it  were  within  the  allegiance  of  the  King  of  England,  &c. 
Normandy,  Aquitain,  Gascoign,  and  other  places,  within  tlie  limits 
of  France,  and,  consequently,  out  of  the  realm  or  bounds  of  the 
kingdom  of  England,  were  in  subjection  to  the  Kings  of  England." 
And  the  Judges  say,  '■'■  Rex  et  Regnimi,  be  not  so  relatives,  as  a 
King  can  be  King  but  of  one  kingdom,  which  clearly  holdeth  not, 
but  that  his  kingly  power  extending  to  divers  nations  and  kingdoms, 
all  owe  him  equal  subjection,  and  are  equally  born  to  the  benefit  of 
his  protection  ;  and,  although  he  is  to  govern  them  by  their  distinct 
laws,  yet  any  one  of  the  people  coming  into  the  other,  is  to  have  the 
benefits  of  the  laws,  wheresoever  he  cometh."  So  they  are  not  to 
be  deeined  aliens,  as  your  Excellency  in  your  speech  supposes,  in 
any  of  the  dominions,  all  which  accords  with  the  principles  our 
ancestors  held.  "  And  he  is  to  bear  the  burden  of  taxes  of  the  place 
where  he  cometh,  but  living  in  one,  or  for  his  livelihood  in  one,  he 
is  not  be  taxed  in  the  other,  because  laws  ordain  taxes,  impositions, 
and  charges,  as  a  disci^jliue  of  subjection  particularized  to  every 
particular  nation."  Nothing,  we  think,  can  be  more  clear  to  our 
purpose  than  this  decision  of  Judges,  perhaps  as  learned,  as  ever 
adorned  the  English  nation,  or  in  favor  of  America,  in  her  present 
controversy  with  the  mother  state. 

Your  Excellency  says,  that,  by  "  our  not  distinguishing  between 
the  Crown  of  England,  and  the  Kings  and  Queens  of  England,  in 
their  personal  or  natural  capacities,  we  have  been  led  into  a  funda- 
mental error."     Upon  this  very  distinction  we  have  availed  ourselves. 


APPENDIX.  421 

We  have  said,  that  our  ancestors  considered  the  land,  whicli  they 
took  possession  of  in  America,  as  out  of  the  bounds  of  the  kingdom 
of  England,  and  out  of  the  reach  and  extent  of  the  laws  of  England  ; 
and,  that  the  King  also,  even  in  the  act  of  granting  the  charter, 
considered  the  territory  as  not  within  the  realm  ;  that  the  King  had 
an  absolute  right  in  himself  to  dispose  of  the  lands,  and  that  this 
was  not  disputed  by  the  nation ;  nor  could  the  lands,  on  any  solid 
grounds,  be  claimed  by  the  nation ;  and,  therefore,  our  ancestors  re- 
ceived the  lands,  by  grant,  from  the  King ;  and,  at  the  same  time, 
compacted  with  him,  and  promised  him  homage  and  allegiance,  not 
in  his  public  or  politic,  but  natural  cajiacity  only.  If  it  be  difficult 
for  us  to  show  how  the  King  acquii'ed  a  title  to  this  country  in  his 
natural  capacity,  or  separate  from  his  relation  to  his  subjects,  which 
we  confess,  yet  we  conceive  it  will  be  equally  difficult  for  your  Ex- 
cellency to  show  how  the  body  politic  and  nation  of  England  ac- 
quired it.  Our  ancestors  supposed  it  was  acquired  by  neither  ;  and, 
therefore,  they  declared,  as  we  have  before  quoted  from  your  history, 
that  saving  their  actual  purchase  from  the  natives,  of  the  soil,  the 
dominion,  the  lordship,  and  sovereignty,  they  had  in  the  sight  of 
God  and  man,  no  right  and  title  to  what  they  possessed.  How  much 
clearer  then,  in  natural  reason  and  equity,  must  our  title  be,  who 
hold  estates  dearly  purchased  at  the  expense  of  our  own,  as  well  as 
our  ancestors  labor,  and  defended  by  them  with  treasure  and  blood. 
Your  Excellency  has  been  pleased  to  confirm,  rather  than  deny  or 
confute,  a  piece  of  history,  which,  you  say,  we  took  from  an  anony- 
mous pamphlet,  and  by  vrhich  you  "  fear  we  have  been  too  easily 
misled."  It  may  be  gathered  from  your  own  declaration,  and  other 
authorities,  besides  the  anonymous  pamphlet,  that  the  House  of 
Commons  took  exception,  not  at  the  King's  having  made  an  absolute 
grant  of  the  territory,  but  at  the  claim  of  an  exclusive  right  to  the 
fishery  on  the  banks  and  sea  coast,  by  virtue  of  the  patent.  At  this 
you  say,  "  the  House  of  Commons  was  alarmed,  and  a  bill  was 
brought  in  for  allowing  a  free  fishery."  And,  upon  this  occasion, 
your  Excellency  allows,  that  "  one  of  the  Secretaries  of  State  de- 
clared, that  the  plantations  were  not  annexed  to  the  Crown,  and  so 
were  not  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Parliament."  If  we  should  con- 
cede to  what  your  Excellency  supposes  might  possibly,  or,  "  per- 
haps," be  the  case,  that  the  Secretary  made  this  declaration,  "  as  his 
own  opinion,"  the  event  showed  that  it  was  the  opinion  of  the  King 
too  ;  for  it  is  not  to  be  accounted  for  upon  any  other  principle,  that  he 


422  APPENDIX. 

would  have  denied  his  royal  assent  to  a  bill,  formed  for  no  other 
purpose,  but  to  grant  his  subjects  in  England,  the  jirivilege  of  fishing 
on  the  sea  coasts  in  America.  The  account  published  by  Sir  Ferdi- 
nando  Gorges  himself,  of  the  proceedings  of  Parliament  on  this 
occasion,  your  Excellency  thinks,  will  remove  all  doubt,  of  the  sense 
of  the  nation,  and  of  the  patentees  of  this  patent  or  charter,  in  1620. 
"This  narrative,"  you  say,  "has  all  the  appearance  of  truth  and  sin- 
cerity," which  we  do  not  deny ;  and,  to  us,  it  carries  this  conviction 
with  it,  that  "  what  was  objected  "  in  Parliament,  was  the  exclusive 
claim  of  fishing  only.  His  imagining  that  he  had  satisfied  the 
House,  after  divers  attendances,  that  the  planting  a  colony  was  of 
much  more  consequence  than  a  simple  disorderly  course  of  fishing, 
is  sufficient  for  our  conviction.  We  know  that  the  nation  was  at 
that  time  alarmed  with  api^rehensions  of  monopolies  ;  and,  if  the 
patent  of  New  England  w-as  presented  by  the  two  Houses  as  a 
grievance,  it  did  not  show,  as  your  Excellency  supposes,  "  the  sense 
they  then  had  of  their  authority  over  this  new  acquired  territoi'y," 
but  only  their  sense  of  the  grievance  of  a  monopoly  of  the  sea. 

We  are  happy  to  hear  your  Excellency  say,  that  "  our  remarks 
upon,  and  construction  of  the  words,  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  of 
England,  are  much  the  saiBe  with  those  of  the  Council."  It  serves 
to  confirm  us  in  our  opinion,  in  what  we  take  to  be  the  most  im- 
portant matter  of  difference  between  your  Excellency  and  the  two 
Houses.  After  saying,  that  the  statute  of  7th  and  8th  of  WiUiam 
and  Mary  favors  the  construction  of  the  words,  as  intending  such 
laws  of  England  as  are  made  more  immediately  to  respect  us,  you 
tell  us,  that  "  the  province  Agent,  Mr.  Dummer,  in  his  much  ap- 
plauded defence,  says,  that,  then  a  law  of  the  plantations  may  be 
said  to  be  repugnant  to  a  law  made  in  Great  Britain,  when  it  flatly 
contradicts  it,  so  far  as  the  law  made  there,  mentions  and  relates  to 
the  plantations."  This  is  plain  and  obvious  to  common  sense,  and, 
therefore,  cannot  be  denied.  But,  if  your  Excellency  would  read  a 
page  or  two  further  in  that  excellent  defence,  you  will  see  that  he 
mentions  this  as  the  sense  of  the  phrase,  as  taken  from  an  act  of 
Parliament,  rather  than  as  the  sense  he  would  choose  himself  to  put 
upon  it ;  and,  he  expressly  designs  to  show,  in  vindication  of  the 
charter,  that,  in  that  sense  of  the  words,  there  never  was  a  law  made 
in  the  plantations  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  Great  Britain.  He 
gives  another  construction,  much  more  likely  to  be  the  true  intent  of 
the  words,  nameh',  "  that  the  patentees  shall  not  presume,   under 


APPENDIX.  423 

color  of  their  particular  charters,  to  make  any  laws  inconsistent  with 
the  great  charter,  and  other  laws  of  England,  hy  which  tlie  lives, 
liberties,  and  properties  of  Englishmen  are  secured."  This  is  the 
sense  in  which  our  ancestors  understood  the  words  ;  and,  therefore, 
they  are  unwilling  to  conform  to  the  acts  of  trade,  and  disregarded 
them  till  they  made  provision  to  give  them  force  in  the  colony,  by  a 
law  of  their  own ;  saying,  that  ''  the  laws  of  England  did  not  reach 
America  ;  and  those  acts  were  an  invasion  of  their  rights,  liberties, 
and  properties,"  because  they  were  not  "  represented  in  Parliament." 
The  right  of  being  governed  by  laws,  which  were  made  by  persons, 
in  whose  election  they  had  a  voice,  they  looked  upon  as  the  founda- 
tion of  English  liberties.  By  the  compact  with  the  King,  in  the 
charter,  they  were  to  be  as  free  in  America,  as  they  would  have 
been  if  they  had  remained  within  the  realm ;  and,  therefore,  they 
freely  asserted,  that  they  ''  were  to  be  governed  by  laws  made  by 
themselves,  and  by  officers  chosen  by  themselves."  Mr.  Dummer 
says,  "  it  seems  reasonable  enough  to  think  that  the  Crown,"  and,  he 
might  have  added,  our  ancestors,  "  intended  by  this  injunction  to 
provide  for  aU  its  subjects,  that  they  might  not  be  oppressed  by  arbi- 
trary power  ;  but  being  still  subjects,  they  should  be  protected  by 
the  same  mild  laws,  and  enjoy  the  same  happy  government,  as  if 
they  continued  within  the  realm."  And,  considering  the  words  of 
the  charter  in  this  light,  he  looks  upon  them  as  designed  to  be  a 
fence  against  oj^pression  and  despotic  power.  But  the  construction 
which  your  Excellency  puts  upon  the  words,  reduces  us  to  a  state  of 
vassalage,  and  exposes  us  to  oppression  and  despotic  power,  when- 
ever a  Parliament  shall  see  fit  to  make  laws  for  that  purpose,  and 
put  them  in  execution. 

We  flatter  ourselves,  that,  from  the  large  extracts  we  have  made 
from  your  Excellency's  history  of  the  colony,  it  apjiears  evidently, 
that  under  both  charters,  it  hath  been  the  sense  of  the  people  and  of 
the  government,  that  they  were  not  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Parlia- 
ment. We  pray  you  again  to  turn  to  those  quotations,  and  our 
observations  upon  them  ;  and  we  wish  to  have  your  Excellency's 
judicious  remarks.  When  we  adduced  that  history,  to  prove  that 
the  sentiments  of  private  persons  of  influence,  four  or  five  years 
after  the  restoration,  were  very  different  from  what  your  Excellency 
apprehended  them  to  be,  when  you  delivered  your  speech,  you  seem 
to  concede  to  it,  by  telling  us,  "  it  was,  as  you  take  it,  from  the 
principles  imbibed  in  those  times  of  anarchy,  (preceding  the  restora- 


424  APPENDIX. 

tion,)  that  they  disputed  the  authority  of  Parliament ;  "  but,  you 
add,  "  the  government  would  not  venture  to  dispute  it."  We  find 
in  the  same  history,  a  quotation  from  a  letter  of  Mr.  Stoughton, 
dated  seventeen  years  after  the  restoration,  mentioning  "  the  country's 
not  taking  notice  of  the  acts  of  navigation,  to  observe  them."  And 
it  was,  as  we  take  it,  after  that  time,  that  the  government  declared, 
in  a  letter  to  their  Agents,  that  they  had  not  submitted  to  them  ; 
and  they  ventured  to  "  dispute  "  the  jurisdiction,  asserting,  that  they 
apprehended  the  acts  to  be  an  invasion  of  the  rights,  liberties,  and 
properties  of  the  subjects  of  his  Majesty  in  the  colony,  they  not 
being  represented  in  Parliament,  and  that  "  the  laws  of  England 
did  not  reach  America."  It  very  little  avails  in  proof,  that  they 
conceded  to  the  supreme  authority  of  Parliament,  their  telling 
the  Commissioners,  "  that  the  act  of  navigation  had  for  some  years 
before,  been  observed  here  ;  that  they  knew  not  of  its  being  greatly 
violated ;  and  that,  such  laws  as  appeared  to  be  against  it,  were  re- 
pealed." It  may  as  truly  be  said  now,  that  the  revenue  acts  are 
observed  by  some  of  the  people  of  this  province  ;  but  it  cannot  be 
said  that  the  government  and  people  of  this  province  have  conceded, 
that  the  Parliament  had  authority  to  make  such  acts  to  be  observed 
here.  Neither  does  their  declaration  to  the  Commissioners,  that  such 
laws  as  ajjpeared  to  be  against  the  act  of  navigation,  were  repealed, 
prove  their  concession  of  the  authority  of  Parliament  by  any  means, 
so  much  as  their  making  provision  for  giving  force  to  an  act  of  Par- 
liament within  this  province,  by  a  deliberate  and  solemn  act  or  law 
of  their  own,  proves  the  contrary. 

You  tell  us,  that  "  the  government,  four  or  five  years  before  the 
charter  was  vacated,  more  explicitly,"  that  is,  than  by  a  conversation 
with  the  Commissioners,  "  acknowledged  the  authority  of  Parlia- 
ment, and  voted,  that  their  Governor  should  take  the  oath  required 
of  him,  faithfully  to  do  and  perform  all  matters  and  things  enjoined 
him  by  the  acts  of  trade."  But  does  this,  may  it  please  your  Ex- 
cellency, show  their  explicit  acknowledgment  of  the  authority  of 
Parliament  ?  Does  it  not  rather  show  directly  the  contrary  ?  For, 
what  could  there  be  for  their  vote,  or  authority,  to  require  him  to 
take  the  oath  already  required  of  him,  by  the  act  of  Pai-liament,  un- 
less both  he,  and  they,  judged  that  an  act  of  Parliament  was  not  of 
force  sufficient  to  bind  him  to  take  such  oath  ?  We  do  not  deny, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  are  fully  persuaded,  that  your  Excellency's 
principles  in  governments  are  still  of  the  same  with  what  they  appear 


APPENDIX.  425 

to  be  in  the  history ;  for,  you  there  say,  that  "  the  passing  this  haw, 
plainly  shows  the  wrong  sense  they  had  of  the  relation  they  stood  in 
to  England."  But  we  are  from  hence  convinced,  that  your  Excel- 
lency, when  you  wrote  the  history,  was  of  our  mind  in  this  respect, 
that  our  ancestors,  in  passing  the  law,  discovered  their  opinion,  that 
they  were  without  the  jurisdiction  of  Parliament ;  for  it  was  u})on 
this  princii)le  alone,  they  shewed  the  Avrong  sense  they  had  in  your 
Excellency's  ojiinion,  of  the  relation  they  stood  in  to  England. 

Your  Excellency,  in  your  second  speech,  condescends  to  point  out 
to  us  t!ie  acts  and  doings  of  the  General  Assembly,  which  relates  to 
acts  of  Parliament,  which,  you  think,  ''  demonstrates  that  they  have 
been  acknowledged  by  the  Assembly,  or  submitted  to  by  the  people  ;  " 
neither  of  which,  in  our  opinion,  shows  that  it  was  the  sense  of  the 
nation,  and  our  predecessors,  when  they  first  took  possession  of  this 
plantation,  or  colony,  by  a  grant  and  charter  from  the  Crown,  that 
they  were  to  remain  subject  to  the  supreme  authority  of  the  English 
Parliament. 

Your  Excellency  seems  chiefly  to  rely  uj^on  our  ancestox's.  after 
the  revolution,  "  proclaiming  King  William  and  Queen  Mary,  in  the 
room  of  King  James,"  and  taking  the  oaths  to  them,  "  the  alteration 
of  the  form  of  oaths,  from  time  to  time,"  and  finally,  "  the  establish- 
ment of  the  form,  which  every  one  of  us  has  complied  with,  as  the 
charter,  in  express  terms  requires,  and  makes  our  duty."  We  do 
not  know  that  it  has  ever  been  a  jioint  in  dispute,  whether  the  Kings 
of  England  were  ij^so  facto  Kings  in,  and  over,  this  colony,  or 
province.  The  compact  was  made  between  King  Charles  the  I.  his 
heirs  and  successors,  and  the  Governor  and  company,  their  heirs 
and  successors.  It  is  easy,  upon  this  principle,  to  account  for  the 
acknowledgment  of,  and  submission  to  King  William  and  Queen 
Mary,  as  successors  of  Charles  the  I.  in  the  room  of  King  James  ; 
besides,  it  is  to  be  considered,  that  the  people  in  the  colony,  as  well 
as  in  England,  had  suffered  under  the  tyrant  James,  by  which,  he 
had  alike  forfeited  his  right  to  reign  over  both.  There  had  been  a 
revolution  here,  as  well  as  in  England.  The  eyes  of  the  people 
here,  were  upon  William  and  Mary  ;  and  the  news  of  their  being 
proclaimed  in  England,  was,  as  your  Excellency's  history  tells  us, 
"  the  most  joyful  news  ever  received  in  New  England."  And,  if 
they  were  not  proclaimed  here,  "  by  virtue  of  an  act  of  the  colony," 
it  was,  as  we  think,  may  be  concluded  from  the  tenor  of  your  history 
with  the  general  or  universal  consent  of  the  people,  as  apparently, 


426  APPENDIX. 

as  if  "  such  act  had  passed."  It  is  consent  alone,  that  makes  any 
human  laws  binding  ;  and  as  a  learned  author  observes,  a  purely 
voluntary  submission  to  an  act,  because  it  is  highly  in  our  favor  and 
for  our  benefit,  is  in  all  equity  and  justice,  to  be  deemed  as  not  at  all 
proceeding  from  the  right  we  include  in  the  Legislators,  that  they, 
thereby  obtain  an  authority  over  us,  and  that  ever  hereafter,  we 
must  obey  them  of  duty.  We  would  observe,  that  one  of  the  first 
acts  of  the  General  Assembly  of  this  province,  since  the  present 
charter,  was  an  act,  requiring  the  taking  the  oaths  mentioned  in  an 
act  of  Parliament,  to  which  you  refer  us.  For  what  purpose  was 
this  act  of  the  Assembly  passed,  if  it  was  the  sense  of  the  Legislators 
that  the  act  of  Parliament  was  in  force  in  the  province  ?  And,  at 
the  same  time,  another  act  was  made  for  the  establishment  of  other 
oaths  necessary  to  be  taken  ;  both  which  acts  have  the  royal  sanc- 
tion, and  are  now  in  force.  Your  Excellency  says,  that  when  the 
colony  applied  to  King  William  for  a  second  charter,  they  knew  the 
oath  the  King  had  taken,  which  was  to  govern  them  according  to 
the  statutes  in  Parliament,  and  (which  your  Excellency  here  omits,) 
the  laws  and  customs  of  the  same.  By  the  laws  and  customs  of 
Parliament,  the  people  of  England  freely  debate  and  consent  to  such 
statutes  as  are  made  by  themselves,  or  their  chosen  Representatives. 
This  is  a  law,  or  custom,  which  all  mankind  may  justly  challenge 
as  their  inherent  right.  According  to  this  law,  the  King  has  an 
undoubted  right  to  govern  us.  Your  Excellency,  upon  recollection, 
surely  will  not  infer  from  hence,  that  it  was  the  sense  of  our  prede- 
cessors that  there  was  to  remain  a  supremacy  in  the  English  Parlia- 
ment, or  a  full  power  and  authority  to  make  laws  binding  upon  us, 
in  all  cases  whatever,  in  that  Parliament  where  we  cannot  debate 
and  deliberate  upon  the  necessity  or  expediency  of  any  law,  and, 
consequently,  without  our  consent ;  and,  as  it  may  probably  hap- 
pen, destructive  of  the  first  law  of  society,  the  good  of  the  whole. 
You  tell  us,  that  "  after  the  assumption  of  all  the  powers  of  govern- 
ment, by  virtue  of  the  new  charter,  an  act  passed  for  the  reviving, 
for  a  limited  time,  all  the  local  laws  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  and 
New  Plymouth  respectively,  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  England. 
And,  at  the  same  session,  an  act  jjassed  establishing  naval  ofiicers, 
that  all  undue  trading,  contrary  to  an  act  of  Parliament,  may  be 
prevented."  Among  the  acts  that  were  then  revived,  we  may  reason- 
ably suppose,  was  that,  whereby  provision  was  made  to  give  force  to 
this  act  of  Parliament,  in  the  province.     The  establishment,  there- 


APPENDIX.  427 

fore,  of  the  naval  officers,  was  to  aid  the  execution  of  an  act  of 
Parliament,  for  the  observance  of  which,  within  the  colony,  the  As- 
sembly had  before  made  provision,  after  free  debates,  with  their 
own  consent,  and  by  their  own  act. 

The  act  of  Parliament,  passed  in  1741,  for  putting  an  end  to  sev- 
eral unwarrantable  schemes,  mentioned  by  your  Excellency,  was 
designed  for  the  general  good  ;  and,  if  the  vaHdity  of  it  was  not  dis- 
puted, it  cannot  be  urged  as  a  concession  of  the  supreme  authority, 
to  make  laws  binding  on  us  in  all  cases  whatever.  But,  if  the  design 
of  it  was  for  the  general  benefit  of  the  province,  it  was,  in  one  re- 
spect, at  least  greatly  complained  of,  by  the  persons  more  immedi- 
ately affected  by  it ;  and  to  remedy  the  inconvenience,  the  Legisla- 
tive of  this  province,  passed  an  act,  directly  militating  with  it ;  which 
is  the  strongest  evidence,  that  although  they  may  have  submitted, 
sub  sllentio,  to  some  acts  of  Parliament,  that  they  conceived  might 
operate  for  their  benefit,  they  did  not  conceive  themselves  bound  by 
any  of  its  acts,  which,  they  judged,  would  operate  to  the  injury  even 
of   individuals. 

Your  Excellency  has  not  thought  proper,  to  attempt  to  confute 
the  reasoning  of  a  learned  writer  on  the  laws  of  nature  and  nations, 
quoted  by  us,  on  this  occasion,  to  shew  that  the  authority  of  the 
Legislature  does  not  extend  so  far  as  the  fundamentals  of  the  consti- 
tution. We  are  unhapjjy  in  not  having  your  remarks  ujion  the  rea- 
soning of  tliat  great  man ;  and,  until  it  is  confuted,  we  shall  remain 
of  the  opinion,  that  the  fundamentals  of  the  constitution  being 
excepted  from  the  commission  of  the  Legislators,  none  of  the  acts 
or  doings  of  the  General  Assembly,  however  deliberate  and  solemn, 
could  avail  to  change  them,  if  the  people  have  not,  in  very  express 
terms,  given  them  the  power  to  do  it ;  and,  that  much  less  ought 
their  acts  and  doings,  however  numerous,  which  barely  refer  to  acts 
of  Parliament  made  expressly  to  relate  to  us,  to  be  taken  as  an 
acknowledgment,  that  we  are  subject  to  the  supreme  authority  of 
Parliament. 

We  shall  sum  up  our  own  sentiments  in  the  words  of  that  learned 
writer,  Mr.  Hooker,  in  his  Ecclesiastical  Policy,  as  quoted  by  Mr. 
Locke.  "  The  lawful  power  of  making  laws  to  command  whole 
political  societies  of  men,  belonging  so  properly  to  the  same  entire 
societies,  that  for  any  prince  or  potentate  of  what  kind  soever,  to 
exercise  the  same  of  himself,  and  not  from  express  commission, 
immediately  and  personally  received  from  God,  is  no  better  than 


428  APPENDIX. 

mere  tyranny.  Laws,  therefore,  they  are  not,  which  public  appro- 
bation hath  not  made  so ;  for  laws  human,  of  what  kind  soever,  are 
available  by  consent."  "  Since  men,  naturally,  have  no  full  and 
perfect  power  to  command  whole  jjolitic  multitudes  of  men,  therefore, 
utterly  without  our  consent,  we  could  in  such  sort,  be  at  no  man's 
commandment  living.  And  to  be  commanded,  we  do  not  consent, 
when  that  society,  whereof  we  be  a  party,  hath  at  any  time  before 
consented."  We  think  your  Excellency  has  not  proved,  either  that 
the  colony  is  a  part  of  the  politic  society  of  England,  or  that  it  has 
ever  consented  that  the  Parliament  of  England  or  Great  Britain, 
should  make  laws  binding  upon  us,  in  all  cases,  whether  made 
expressly  to  refer  to  us  or  not. 

We  cannot  help,  before  we  conclude,  expressing  our  great  concern, 
that  your  Excellency  has  thus  repeatedly,  in  a  manner,  insisted  upon 
our  free  sentiments  on  matters  of  so  delicate  a  nature  and  weighty 
importance.  The  question  apjiears  to  us,  to  be  no  other,  than, 
whether  we  are  the  subjects  of  absolute  unlimited  power,  or  of  a 
free  government,  formed  on  the  principles  of  the  English  constitu- 
tion. If  your  Excellency's  doctrine  be  true,  the  people  of  this  prov- 
ince hold  their  lands  of  the  Crown  and  people  of  England  ;  and  their 
lives,  liberties,  and  properties,  are  at  their  disposal,  and  that,  even 
;by  compact  and  their  own  consent.  They  were  subject  to  the  King 
as  the  head  alterius  populi  of  another  people,  in  whose  Legislative 
they  have  no  voice  or  interest.  They  are,  indeed,  said  to  have  a 
constitution  and  a  Legislative  of  their  own ;  but  your  Excellency 
has  explained  it  into  a  mere  phantom  ;  limited,  controled,  superseded, 
and  nullified,  at  the  will  of  another.  Is  this  the  constitution  which 
so  charaaed  our  ancestors,  that,  as  your  Excellency  has  informed  us, 
they  kept  a  day  of  solemn  thanksgiving  to  Almighty  God  when  they 
received  it?  And  were  they  men  of  so  little  discernment,  such 
children  in  understanding,  as  to  please  themselves  with  the  imagina- 
tion, that  they  were  blessed  with  the  same  rights  and  liberties  which 
natural  born  subjects  in  England  enjoyed,  when,  at  the  same  time, 
they  had  fully  consented  to  be  ruled  and  ordered  by  a  Legislative, 
a  thousand  leagues  distant  from  them,  whicli  cannot  be  supposed  to 
be  sufficiently  acquainted  with  their  circumstances,  if  concerned  for 
their  interest,  and  in  which,  they  cannot  be  in  any  sense  represented  ? 

[The  committee  who  reported  the  above,  were,  Mr.  Gushing,  (the 
Speaker,)  Mr.  S.  Adams,  Mr.  Hancock,  Mr.  Phillips,  Maj.  Foster, 
Col.  Bowers,  Mr.  Hobson,  Col.  Thayer,  and  Mr.  Denny.] 


APPENDIX.  429 

APPENDIX   C. 

COPY  OF  LETTERS 

Sent  to  Great  Britain,  by  his  Excellency  TJiomas  Hutchinson,  the 
Hon.  Andrew  Oliver,  and  several  other  persons,  born  and  edu- 
cated AMONG  us.  Which  oi'iginal  Letters  liave  been  returned  to 
America,  ViwA  laid  before  the  honorable  House  of  Representatives 
of  this  Province. 

In  which  {notivithstanding  his  Excellency's  Declaration  to  the 
ITonse,  that  the  Tendency  and  Design  of  them  ivas  not  to  subvert 
the  Co7istitutio7i,  but  rather  to  preserve  it  entire)  the  judicious 
Reader  will  discover  the  fatal  Source  of  the  Confusion  and  Blood- 
shed in  which  this  Province  especially  has  been  involved,  and 
which  threatened  total  Destruction  to  the  Liberties  of  all  America. 

BOSTON : 

Printed  by  Edes  and  Gill,  in  Queen  Street. 

1773.1 

Boston,  IStli  June,  1768. 

Sir,  —  As  you  allow  me  the  honour  of  your  correspondence,  I 
may  not  omit  acquainting  you  with  so  remarkable  an  event  as  the 
withdraw  of  the  commissioners  of  the  customs  and  most  of  the 
other  officers  under  them  from  the  town  on  board  the  Romney,  with 
an  intent  to  remove  from  thence  to  the  Castle. 

In  the  evening  of  the  10th  a  sloop  belonging  to  Mr.  Hancock,  a 
representative  for  Boston,  and  a  wealthy  merchant  of  great  influence 
over  the  populace,  was  seized  by  the  collector  and  comptroller  for  a 
very  notorious  breach  of  the  acts  of  trade,  and  after  seizure,  taken 
into  custody  by  the  officer  of  the  Romney  man  of  war,  and  removed 
under  command  of  her  guns.  It  is  pretended  that  the  removal  and 
not  the  seizure  incensed  the  people.  It  seems  not  very  material 
which  it  was.  A  mob  was  immediately  rais'd,  the  officers  insulted, 
bruis'd,  and  much  hurt,  and  the  windows  of  some  of  their  houses 
broke ;  a  boat  belonging  to  the  collector  burnt  in  triumph,  and  many 
threats  utter'd  against  the  Commissioners  and  their  officers  :  no  no- 
tice being  taken  of  their  extravagance,  in  the  time  of  it,  nor  any 
endeavours  by  any  authority  except  the  governor,  the  next  day  to 

1  Title-page  of  the  pamphlet  published  by  the  legislature.  The  letters 
follow  with  care  tlie  pamphlet  text. 


430  APPENDIX. 

discover  and  punish  the  offenders  ;  and  there  being  a  rumour  of  a 
higher  mob  intended  monday  (the  13th)  in  the  evening  the  Com- 
missioners, four  of  them.,  thought  themselves  altogether  unsafe,  be- 
ing destitute  of  protection,  and  removed  with  their  families  to  the 
Romney,  and  there  remain  and  hold  their  board,  and  next  week 
intend  to  do  the  same,  and  also  open  the  custom-house  at  the  Castle. 
The  governor  press'd  the  council  to  assist  him  with  their  advice,  but 
they  declin'd  and  evaded,  calling  it  a  brush  or  small  disturbance 
by  boys  and  negroes,  not  considering  hoiv  much  it  must  be  resented 
in  England  that  the  officers  of  the  Crown  should  think  themselves 
obliged  to  quit  the  place  of  their  residence  and  go  on  board  a  King's 
ship  for  safety,  and  all  the  internal  authority  of  the  province  take 
no  notice  of  it.  The  town  of  Boston  have  had  repeated  meetings, 
and  by  their  votes  declared  the  Commissioners  and  their  officers  a 
great  grievance,  and  yesterday  instructed  their  representatives  to 
endeavor  that  enquiry  should  be  made  by  the  assembly  whether  any 
person  by  writing  or  in  any  other  way  had  encouraged  the  sending 
troops  here,  there  being  some  alarming  reports  that  troo])s  are  ex- 
pected, but  have  not  taken  any  measures  to  discountenance  the  pro- 
moters of  the  late  proceedings  ;  but  on  the  contraiy  appointed  one 
or  more  of  the  actors  or  abettors  on  a  Committee  appointed  to  wait 
on  the  Governor  and  to  desire  him  to  order  the  man  of  war  out  of 
the  harbour. 

Ignorant  as  they  be,  yet  the  heads  of  a  Boston  town-meeting  in- 
fluences all  public  measures. 

It  is  not  possible  this  anarchy  should  last  always.  Mr  Hallowell 
who  will  be  the  bearer  of  this  tells  me  he  has  the  honour  of  being 
personally  known  to  you.  I  beg  leave  to  refer  you  to  him  for  a 
more  full  account. 

I  am  with  great  esteem, 

Sir,  your  most  humble  and  obedient  servant, 

Tho.  Hutchinson. 

Boston,  August  1768. 
Sir,  —  It  is  very  necessary  other  information  should  be  had  in 
England  of  the  present  state  of  the  commissioners  of  the  customs 
than  what  common  fame  will  bring  to  you  or  what  you  will  receive 
from  most  of  the  letters  which  go  from  hence,  people  in  general 
being  prejudiced  by  many  false  reports  and  misrepresentations  con- 
cerning them.     Seven  eighths  of  the  people  of  the  country  suppose 


APPENDIX.  431 

the  board  itself  to  be  unconstitutional  and  cannot  be  undeceived  and 
brought  to  believe  that  a  board  has  existed  in  England  all  this  century, 
and  that  the  board  established  here  has  no  new  powers  given  to  it. 
Our  incendiaries  know  it,  but  they  industriously  and  very  wickedly 
publish  the  contrary.  As  much  pains  has  been  taken  to  prejudice 
the  country  against  the  persons  of  the  commissioners  and  their  char- 
acters have  been  misrepresented  and  cruelly  treated  especially  since 
their  confinement  at  the  castle  where  they  are  not  so  likely  to  hear 
what  is  said  of  them  and  are  not  so  able  to  confute  it. 

It  is  now  pretended  they  need  not  to  have  withdrawn,  that  Mr. 
"Williams  had  stood  his  ground  without  any  injuiy  although  the 
mob  beset  his  house,  &c.  There  never  was  that  spirit  raised  against 
the  under  officers  as  against  the  commissioners.  /  mean  four  of 
them.  They  had  a  public  affront  offered  them  by  the  town  of  Bos- 
ton who  refused  to  give  the  use  of  their  hall  for  a  public  dinner 
unless  it  was  stipulated  that  the  commissioners  should  not  be  invited. 
An  affront  of  the  same  nature  at  the  motion  of  Mr  Hancock  was 
offered  by  a  company  of  cadets.  Soon  after  a  vessel  of  Mr  Han- 
cock's being  seized  the  officers  were  mobb'd  and  the  commissioners 
were  informed  they  were  threatned.  I  own  I  was  in  pain  for  them. 
I  do  not  believe  if  the  mob  had  seized  them,  there  was  any  authority 
able  and  willing  to  have  rescued  them.  After  they  had  withdrawn 
the  town  signified  to  the  governor  by  a  message  that  it  was  expected 
or  desired  they  should  not  return.  It  was  then  the  general  voice 
that  it  would  not  be  safe  for  them  to  return.  After  all  this  the  sons 
of  liberty  say  they  deserted  or  abdicated. 

The  other  officers  of  the  customs  in  general  either  did  not  leave 
the  town  or  soon  returned  to  it.  Some  of  them  seem  to  be  discon- 
tented with  the  commissioners.  Great  pains  have  been  taken  to 
increase  the  discontent.  Their  office  by  these  means  Is  rendered 
extremely  burdensome.  Everything  they  do  is  found  fault  with, 
and  yet  no  particular  illegality  or  even  irregularity  mentioned. 
There  is  too  much  hauteur  some  of  their  officers  say  in  the  treat- 
ment they  receive.  They  say  they  treat  their  officers  as  the  com- 
missioners treat  their  officers  in  England,  and  require  no  greater 
deference.  After  all  it  is  not  the  persons  but  the  office  of  the  com- 
missioners which  has  raised  this  spirit,  and  the  distinction  made 
between  the  commissioners  is  because  it  has  been  given  out  that 
four  of  them  were  in  favor  of  the  new  establishment  and  the  fifth 
was  not.     If  Mr  Hallowell  arrived  safe  he  can  inform  you  many 


432  APPENDIX. 

circumstances  relative  to  this  distinction  which  I  very  willingly  ex- 
cuse myself  from  mentioning. 

I  know  of  no  burden  brought  upon  the  fair  trader  by  the  new 
establishment.  The  illicit  trade  finds  the  risque  greater  than  it 
used  to  be,  especially  in  the  port  where  the  board  is  constantly  held. 
Another  circvimstance  which  increases  the  prejudice  is  this  ;  the  new 
duties  happened  to  take  place  just  about  the  time  the  commissioners 
arrived.  People  have  absurdly  connected  the  duties  and  board  of 
commissioners,  and  suppose  we  should  have  had  no  additional  duties 
if  there  had  been  no  board  to  have  the  charge  of  collecting  them. 
With  all  the  aid  you  can  give  to  the  officers  of  the  Crown  they  will 
have  enough  to  do  to  maintain  the  authority  of  government  and  to 
carry  the  taxes  into  execution.  If  they  are  discountenanced,  neg- 
lected or  fail  of  support  from  you,  they  must  submit  to  everything 
the  present  opposers  of  government  think  fit  to  require  of  them. 

There  is  no  ofl^cer  under  greater  discouragement  than  that  of  tlie 
commissioners.  Some  of  my  friends  recommended  me  to  the  min- 
istry. I  think  myself  very  Imppy  that  I  am  not  one.  Indeed  it 
would  have  been  incompatible  with  my  post  as  chief-justice,  and  I 
must  have  declined  it,  and  I  should  do  it  although  no  greater  salary 
had  been  affixed  to  the  chief-justices  place  than  the  small  pittance 
allowed  by  the  province. 

From  my  acquaintance  with  the  commissioners  I  have  received  a 
personal  esteem  for  them,  but  my  chief  inducement  to  make  this 
representation  to  you  is  a  regard  to  the  public  interest  which  I  am 
sure  will  suffer  if  the  opposition  carry  their  point  against  them. 
I  am  with  great  esteem. 

Sir,  your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

Tho.  Hutchinson. 

August  10.  Yesterday  at  a  meeting  of  the  merchants  it  was 
agreed  by  all  present  to  give  no  more  orders  for  goods  from  Eng- 
land, nor  receive  any  on  commission  untill  the  late  acts  are  repealed. 
And  it  is  said  all  except  sixteen  in  the  town  have  subscribed  an 
engagement  of  that  tenor.  I  hope  the  subscription  will  be  printed 
that  I  may  transmit  it  to  you. 

Boston,  4th  October  1768. 

Dear  Sir,  —  I  was  absent  upon  one  of  our  circuits  when  Mr 
Byles  arrived.  Since  my  return  I  have  received  from  him  your 
obliging  letter  of  31st  July.     I  never  dared  to  think  what  the  re- 


APPENDIX.  433 

sentment  of  the  nation  would  be  upon  Hallowell's  arrival.  It  is  not 
strange  that  measures  should  be  immediately  taken  to  reduce  the 
colonies  to  their  former  state  of  government  and  order,  but  that  the 
national  funds  should  be  affected  by  it  is  to  me  a  little  mysterious 
and  surprising.  Principles  of  government  absurd  enough  spread 
thro'  all  the  colonies  ;  but  I  cannot  think  that  in  any  colony,  people 
of  any  consideration  have  ever  been  so  mad  as  to  think  of  a  revolt. 
Many  of  the  common  people  have  been  in  a  frenzy,  and  talked  of 
dying  in  defence  of  their  liberties,  and  have  spoke  and  printed  what 
is  liighly  criminal,  and  too  many  of  rank  above  the  vulgar,  and  some 
in  puhllc  2>osts  have  countenanced  and  encouraged  them  untill  they 
increased  so  much  in  their  numbers  and  in  their  opinion  of  their 
importance  as  to  submit  to  government  no  further  than  they  thought 
])roper.  The  legislative  powers  have  been  influenced  by  them,  and 
the  executive  powers  intirely  lost  their  force.  There  has  been  con- 
tinual danger  of  mobs  and  insurrections,  but  they  would  have  spent 
aU  their  force  within  themselves,  the  officers  of  the  Crown  and  some 
of  the  few  friends  who  dared  to  stand  by  them  possibly  might  have 
been  knock'd  in  the  head,  and  some  such  fatal  event  would  prob- 
ably have  brought  the  people  to  their  senses.  For  four  or  five 
weeks  past,  the  distemjier  has  been  growing,  and  I  confess  I  have  not 
been  without  some  apprehensions  for  myself,  but  my  friends  have 
had  more  for  me,  and  I  have  had  repeated  and  frequent  notices 
from  them  from  different  quarters,  one  of  the  last  I  will  inclose  to 
you}  In  this  state  of  things  there  was  no  security  but  quitting  my 
])ost,  which  nothing  but  the  last  extremity  would  justify.  As  chief 
justice  for  two  years  after  our  first  disorders  I  kept  the  grand 
juries  tolerably  well  to  their  duty.  The  last  spring  there  had  been 
several  riots,  and  a  most  infamous  libel  had  been  published  in  one 
of  the  papers,  which  I  enlarged  upon,  and  the  grand  jury  had  de- 
termined to  make  presentments,  but  the  attorney  general  not  attend- 
ing them  the  fii-st  day,  Otis  and  his  creatures  who  were  alarmed  and 
frightened  exerted  themselves  the  next  day  and  prevailed  upon  so 
many  of  the  jury  to  change  their  voices,  that  there  was  not  a  suf- 
ficient number  left  to  find  a  bill.  They  have  been  ever  since  more 
enraged  against  me  than  ever.  At  the  desire  of  the  governor  I 
committed  to  writing  the  charge  while  it  lay  in  my  memory,  and 
as  I  have  no  further  use  for  it  I  will  inclose  it  as  it  may  give  you 
some  idea  of  our  judicatories. 

^  See  the  following  letters. 


434  APPENDIX. 

Whilst  we  were  in  this  state,  news  came  of  two  regiments  being 
ordered  from  Halifax,  and  soon  after  two  more  from  Ireland.  The 
minds  of  people  were  more  and  more  agitated,  broad  hints  were 
given  that  the  troops  should  never  land,  a  barrel  of  tar  was  placed 
upon  the  bacon,  in  the  night  to  be  fired  to  bring  in  the  country 
when  the  troops  appeared,  and  all  the  authority  of  the  government 
was  not  strong  enough  to  remove  it.  The  town  of  Boston  met  and 
passed  a  number  of  weak  but  very  criminal  votes ;  and  as  the  gov- 
ernor declined  calling  an  assembly  they  sent  circular  letters  to  all 
the  towns  and  districts  to  send  a  person  each  that  there  might  be 
a  general  consultation  at  so  extraordinary  a  crisis.  They  met  and 
spent  a  week,  made  themselves  ridiculous,  and  then  dissolv'd  them- 
selves after  a  message  or  two  to  the  governor  which  he  refused  to 
receive;  a  petition  to  the  King  which  I  dare  say  their  a^e«^  will 
never  be  allowed  to  present,  and  a  result  which  they  have  published 
ill-natured  and  impotent. 

In  this  confusion  the  troops  from  Halifax  ai*rived.  I  never  was 
uuich  afraid  of  the  people's  taking  anus,  but  I  was  apprehensive  of 
violence  from  the  mob,  it  being  their  last  chance  before  the  troops 
could  land.  As  the  prospect  of  revenge  became  more  certain  their 
courage  abated  in  proportion.  Two  regiments  are  landed,  but  a 
new  grievance  is  now  raised.  The  troops  are  by  act  of  parliament 
to  be  quartered  no  where  else  but  in  the  barracks  untill  they  are  full. 
There  are  bari-acks  enough  at  the  castle  to  hold  both  regiments.  It 
is  therefore  against  the  act  to  bring  them  into  town.  This  was 
started  by  the  council  in  their  answer  to  the  governor,  which  to 
make  themselves  popular,  they  in  an  unprecedented  way  published 
and  have  alarmed  all  the  province  ;  for  although  none  but  the  most 
contracted  minds  could  put  such  a  construction  upon  the  act,  yet 
after  this  declaration  of  the  council  nine  tenths  of  the  j^eojile  sup- 
pose it  just.  I  wish  the  act  had  been  better  express'd,  but  it  is 
absurd  to  suppose  the  parliament  intended  to  take  from  the  King 
the  direction  of  his  forces  by  confining  them  to  a  place  where 
any  of  the  colonies  might  tliink  fit  to  build  barracks.  It  is  besides 
ungrateful,  for  it  is  known  to  many  that  this  provision  was  brought 
into  the  bill  after  it  had  been  fi"amed  without  it,  from  meer  favor  to 
the  colonies.  I  hear  the  commander  in  chief  has  provided  barracks 
or  quarters,  but  a  doubt  still  remains  with  some  of  the  council, 
whether  they  are  to  furnish  the  articles  required,  unless  the  men  are 
in  the  province  barracks,  and  they  are  to  determine  upon  it  to-day. 


ArPENDIX.  435 

The  government  has  been  so  long  in  the  hands  of  the  poi)ulace 
that  it  must  come  out  of  them  by  degrees,  at  least  it  will  be  a  work 
of  time  to  bring  the  people  back  to  just  notions  of  the  nature  of  gov- 
ernment. 

Mr.  Pepperell,  a  young  gentleman  of  good  character,  and  grand- 
son and  principal  heir  to  the  late  Sir  William  Pepperell  being  bound 
to  London,  I  shall  deliver  this  letter  to  him,  as  it  will  be  too  bulky 
for  postage,  and  desire  hira  to  wait  upon  you  with  it. 
I  am  with  very  great  esteem, 

Sir,  your  most  humble  and  most  obedient  servant, 

Tho.  Hutchinson. 

Boston,  10th  December  1768. 

Dear  Sir,  —  I  am  just  now  informed  that  a  number  of  the 
council,  perhaps  8  or  10,  who  live  in  and  near  this  town,  have  met 
together  and  agreed  upon  a  long  address  or  petition  to  parliament, 
and  that  it  will  be  sent  by  their  ship  to  Mr.  Bollan  to  be  presented. 
Mr.  Danforth  who  is  president  of  the  council  told  the  governor  upon 
enquiry,  that  it  was  sent  to  him  to  sign,  and  he  supposed  the  rest  of 
the  council  who  had  met  together  would  sign  after  him  in  order, 
but  he  had  since  found  that  they  had  wrote  over  his  name  by  order  of 
council,  which  makes  it  appear  to  be  an  act  of  council.  This  may 
be  a  low  piece  of  cunning  in  him,  but  be  it  as  it  may,  it 's  proper  it 
should  be  known  that  the  whole  is  no  more  than  the  doings  of  a  part 
of  the  council  only,  although  even  that  is  not  very  material,  since,  if 
they  had  all  been  present  without  the  governor's  summons  the  meet- 
ing would  have  been  irregular  and  unconstitutional,  and  ought  to  be 
discountenanced  and  censured.  I  suppose  there  is  no  instance  of 
the  Privy  Council's  meeting  and  doing  business  without  the  King's 
presence  or  special  direction,  except  in  committees  upon  such  busi- 
ness as  by  his  majesty's  order  has  been  referred  to  them  by  an  act 
of  council,  and  I  have  known  no  instance  here  without  the  governor 
until  within  three  or  four  months  past. 

I  thought  it  very  necessary  the  circumstances  of  this  proceeding 
should  be  known,  tho'  if  there  be  no  necessity  for  it,  I  think  it  would 
be  best  it  should  not  be  known  that  the  intelligence  comes  from  me. 
I  am  with  very  great  regard,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  and  most  obedient  servant, 

Tho.  Hutchinson. 


436  APPENDIX. 

Boston,  20th  January  1769. 

Dear  Sir,  —  You  have  laid  me  under  veiy  great  obligations  by 
the  very  clear  and  full  account  of  proceedings  in  parliament,  which 
I  received  from  you  by  Capt.  Scott.  You  have  also  done  much 
service  to  the  people  of  the  province.  For  a  day  or  two  after  the 
ship  arrived,  the  enemies  of  government  gave  out  that  their  friends 
in  parliament  were  increasing,  and  all  things  would  be  soon  on  the 
old  footing  ;  in  other  words  that  all  acts  imposing  duties  would  be 
repealed,  the  commissioners'  board  dissolved,  the  customs 'put  on  the 
old  footing,  and  illicit  trade  carried  on  with  little  or  no  hazard.  It 
was  very  fortunate  that  I  had  it  in  my  power  to  prevent  such  a  false 
representation  from  spreading  through  the  province.  I  have  been 
very  cautious  of  using  your  name,  but  I  have  been  very  free  in  pub- 
lishing abroad  the  substance  of  your  letter,  and  declaring  that  I  had 
my  intelligence  from  the  best  authority,  and  have  in  a  great  measure 
defeated  the  ill  design  in  raising  and  attempting  to  spread  so  ground- 
less a  report.  What  marks  of  resentment  the  parliament  will  show 
whether  they  will  be  upon  the  province  in  general  or  particular  per- 
sons, is  extremely  uncertain,  but  that  they  will  be  placed  somewhere 
is  most  certain,  and  I  add  because  /  think  it  ought  to  be  so,  that 
those  who  have  been  most  steady  in  preserving  the  constitution  and 
opposing  the  licentiousness  of  such  as  call  themselves  sons  of  liberty 
will  certainly  meet  with  favor  and  encouragement. 

This  is  most  certainly  a  crisis.  I  really  wish  that  there  may  not 
have  been  the  least  degree  of  severity  beyond  what  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  maintain,  I  think  I  may  say  to  you  the  dejjendance 
which  a  colony  ought  to  have  upon  the  parent  state  ;  but  if  no 
measures  shall  have  been  taken  to  secure  this  dependance,  or  nothing 
more  than  some  declaratory  acts  or  resolves,  it  is  all  over  with  tcs. 
The  friends  of  government  will  be  utterly  disheartened,  and  the 
friends  of  anarchy  will  be  afraid  of  nothing  be  it  ever  so  extrava- 
gant. 

The  last  vessel  from  London  had  a  quick  passage.  We  expect  to 
be  in  suspense  for  the  three  or  four  next  weeks  and  then  to  hear  our 
fate.  I  never  think  of  the  measures  necessary  for  the  peace  and 
good  order  of  the  colonies  without  pain.  There  must  be  an  abridg- 
ment of  what  are  called  English  liberties.  I  relieve  myself  by  con- 
sidering that  in  a  remove  from  the  state  of  nature  to  the  most  perfect 
state  of  government  there  must  be  a  great  restraint  of  natural 
liberty.     I  doubt  whether  it  is  possible  to  project  a  system  of  gov- 


APPENDIX.  437 

ernment  in  which  a  colony  3000  miles  distant  from  the  parent  state 
shall  enjoy  all  the  liberty  of  the  parent  state.  I  am  certain  I  have 
never  yet  seen  the  projection.  I  wish  the  good  of  the  colony  when 
I  wish  to  see  some  further  restraint  of  liberty  rather  than  the  con- 
nexion with  the  parent  state  should  be  broken  ;  for  I  am  sure  such 
a  breach  must  prove  the  ruin  of  the  colony.  Pardon  me  this  excur- 
sion, it  really  proceeds  from  the  state  of  mind  into  which  our  per- 
plexed affairs  often  throws  me. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  with  very  great  esteem, 

Sir,  your  most  humble  and  most  obedient  servant, 

Tho.  Hutchinson. 

Boston,  20th  October,  1769. 

Dear  Sir,  —  I  thank  you  for  your  last  favor  of  July  18th.  I 
fancy  in  my  last  to  you  about  two  months  ago  I  have  answered  the 
greatest  part  of  it. 

My  opinion  upon  the  combination  of  the  merchants,  I  gave  you 
very  fully.  How  long  they  will  be  able  to  continue  them  if  jjarlia- 
ment  should  not  interpose  is  uncertain.  In  most  articles  they  may 
another  year,  and  you  run  the  risque  of  their  substituting  when  they 
are  put  to  their  shifts  something  of  their  own  in  the  place  of  what 
they  used  to  have  from  you,  and  which  they  will  never  return  to  you 
for.  But  it  is  not  possible  that  provision  for  dissolving  these  combi- 
nations and  subjecting  all  who  do  not  renounce  them  to  penalties 
adequate  to  the  offence  should  not  be  made  the  first  week  the  parlia- 
ment meets.  Certainly  all  parties  will  unite  in  so  extraordinary 
case  if  they  never  do  in  any  other.  So  much  has  been  said  upon 
the  repeal  of  the  duties  laid  by  the  last  act,  that  it  will  render  it 
very  difficult  to  keep  people's  minds  quiet  if  that  should  be  refused 
them.  They  deserve  punishment  you  will  say,  but  laying  or  con- 
tinuing taxes  upon  all  cannot  be  thought  equal,  seeing  many  will  be 
punished  who  are  not  offenders.  Penalties  of  another  kind  seem 
better  adapted. 

I  have  been  tolerably  treated  since  the  governor's  departure,  no 
other  charge  being  made  against  me  in  our  scandalous  news-papers 
except  my  bad  principles  in  matters  of  government,  and  this  charge 
has  had  little  effect,  and  a  great  many  friends  promise  me  support. 

I  must  beg  the  favor  of  you  to  keep  secret  everything  I  write, 
untill  we  are  in  a  more  settled  state,  for  the  party  here  either  by 
their  agent,  or  by  some  of  their  emissaries  in  London,  have  sent 


438  APPENDIX. 

them  every  report  or  rumor  of  the  contents  of  letters  wrote  from 
hence.     I  hope  we  shall  see  better  times  both  here  and  in  England. 
I  am  with  great  esteem, 

Sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

Tho.  Hutchinson. 

[These  Resolves  were  circulated,  it  must  be  remembered,  before 
the  Letters,  as  if  to  prepare  the  minds  of  the  people  for  them.] 

RESOLVES  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATWES,  RESPECTING 
THE  LETTERS  OF  THE  GOVERNOR,  LIEUTENANT  GOVERNOR, 
AND  OTHERS,  JUNE  16,  1773. 

Resolved,  That  the  letters,  signed  Thomas  Hutchinson,  and  those 
signed  Andrew  Oliver,  now  under  the  consideration  of  this  House, 
appear  to  be  the  genuine  letters  of  the  present  Governor  and  Lieu- 
tenant Governor  of  this  province,  whose  hand  writing  and  signatures 
are  well  known  to  many  of  the  Members  of  this  House ;  and,  that 
they  contain  aggravated  accounts  of  facts,  and  misrepresentations ; 
and,  that  one  manifest  design  of  them,  was,  to  represent  the  matters 
they  treat  of,  in  a  light,  highly  injurious  to  this  province,  and  the 
persons  against  whom  they  were  wrote. 

Resolved,  That,  though  the  letters  aforesaid,  signed  Thomas 
Hutchinson,  are  said,  by  the  Governor,  in  his  message  to  this  House, 
of  June  9th,  to  be  "  private  letters,  wrote  to  a  gentleman  in  London, 
since  deceased  ;  "  and  "  that  all,  except  the  last,  were  wrote  many 
months  before  he  came  to  the  chair ;  yet,  they  were  wrote  by  the 
present  Governor,  when  he  was  Lieutenant  Governor  and  Chief 
Justice  of  this  province,  who  has  been  represented  abroad,  as  emi- 
nent for  his  abilities,  as  for  his  exalted  station  ;  and  was  under  no 
official  obligation  to  transmit  intelligence  of  such  matters  as  are  con- 
tained in  said  letters ;  and,  that  they,  therefore,  must  be  considered, 
by  the  person  to  whom  they  were  sent,  as  documents  of  solid  intel- 
ligence ;  and,  that  this  gentleman  in  London,  to  whom  they  were 
wrote,  was  then  a  Member  of  the  British  Parliament,  and  one  Avho 
was  very  active  in  American  affairs  ;  and  therefore,  that  these  letters, 
however  secretly  wrote,  must  naturally  be  supposed  to  have,  and 
really  had,  a  public  operation. 

Resolved,  That  these  "  private  letters,"  being  wrote  "  with  express 
confidence  of  secrecy,"  was  only  to  prevent  the  contents  of  them 
being  known  here,  as  appears  by  said  letters ;  and  this  rendered 
them  the  more  injurious  in  their  tendency,  and  really  insidious. 


APPENDIX.  439 

Resolved,  That  the  letters,  signed  Thomas  Hutchinson,  consider- 
ing the  person  by  whom  they  were  wrote,  the  matters  they  expressly 
contain,  the  express  reference  in  some  of  them,  for  "•full  intelli- 
gence,"' to  I\Ir.  Hallowell,  a  person  deej)ly  interested  in  the  measures 
so  mudi  complained  of,  and  recommendatory  notices  of  divers  other 
persons,  whose  emoluments  arising  from  our  public  burdens,  might 
excite  them  to  unfavorable  representations  of  us,  the  measures  they 
suggest,  the  temper  in  which  they  were  wrote,  the  manner  in  which 
they  were  sent,  and  the  person  to  whom  they  were  addressed  ;  had  a 
natural  and  efficacious  tendency  to  interrupt  and  alienate  the  affec- 
tions of  our  most  gracious  Sovereign,  King  George  tlie  III.  from 
this,  his  loyal  and  affectionate  province  ;  to  destroy  that  harmony 
and  good  will  between  Great  Britain  and  this  colony,  which  every 
friend  to  either,  would  wish  to  establish ;  to  excite  the  resentment 
of  the  British  administration  against  this  province  ;  to  defeat  the 
endeavors  of  our  agents  and  friends  to  serve  us,  by  a  fair  represen- 
tation of  our  state  of  grievances  ;  to  prevent  our  humble  and  repeated 
j^etitions  from  reaching  the  royal  ear  of  our  common  Sovereign ; 
and  to  produce  the  severe  and  destructive  measures  which  have  been 
taken  against  this  province,  and  others  still  more  so,  which  have 
been  threatened. 

Resolved,  That  the  letters,  signed  Andrew  Oliver,  considering  the 
person  by  whom  they  were  Avrote,  the  matters  they  expressly  contain, 
the  measures  they  suggest,  the  temper  in  which  they  were  wrote, 
the  manner  in  which  they  were  sent,  and  the  person  to  whom  they 
were  addressed,  had  a  natural  and  efficacious  tendency  to  interrupt 
and  alienate  the  affections  of  our  most  gracious  Sovereign,  King 
George  the  III.  from  this,  his  loyal  and  affectionate  province  ;  to 
destroy  that  harmony  and  good  will  between  Great  Britain  and  this 
colony,  which  every  friend  to  either,  would  wish  to  establish ;  to 
excite  the  resentment  of  the  British  administration  against  this  prov- 
ince ;  to  defeat  the  endeavors  of  our  agents  and  friends  to  serve  us, 
by  a  fair  representation  of  our  state  of  grievances ;  to  prevent  our 
humble  and  repeated  petitions  from  having  the  desired  effect ;  and 
to  produce  the  severe  and  destructive  measures  which  have  been 
taken  against  this  province,  and  others  still  more  so,  which  have 
been  threatened. 

Resolved,  As  the  opinion  of  this  House,  that  it  clearly  appears 
from  the  letters  aforesaid,  signed  Thomas  Hutchinson,  and  Andrew 
Oliver,  that  it  was  the  desire  and  endeavor  of  the  writers  of  them, 


440  '  APPENDIX. 

that  certain  acts  of  the  British  Parliament,  for  raising  a  revenue  in 
America,  might  be  carried  into  effect  by  military  force  ;  and  by 
introducing  a  fleet  and  army  into  his  Majesty's  loyal  province,  to 
intimidate  the  minds  of  his  subjects  here,  and  prevent  eveiy  consti- 
tutional measure  to  obtain  the  rej^eal  of  those  acts,  so  justly  esteemed 
a  grievance  to  us,  and  to  suppress  the  very  spirit  of  freedom. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  House,  that,  as  the  salaries 
lately  appointed  for  the  Governor,  Lieutenant  Governor,  and  Judges 
of  this  province,  directly  repugnant  to  the  charter,  and  subversive 
of  justice,  are  founded  on  this  revenue  ;  and,  as  those  letters  were 
wrote  with  a  design,  and  had  a  tendency  to  promote  and  support 
that  revenue,  therefore,  there  is  great  reason  to  suppose  the  writers 
of  those  letters,  were  well  knowing  to,  suggested,  and  promoted  the 
enacting  said  revenue  acts,  and  the  establishments  founded  on  the 
same. 

Resolved,  That  while  the  writer  of  these  letters,  signed  Thomas 
Hutchinson,  has  been  thus  exerting  himself,  by  his  "secret  confiden- 
tial correspondence,"  to  introduce  measures,  destructive  of  our  con- 
stitutional liberty,  he  has  been  practising  every  method  among  the 
people  of  this  province,  to  fix  in  their  minds  an  exalted  opinion  of 
his  warmest  affection  for  them,  and  his  unremitted  endeavors  to 
promote  their  best  interest  at  the  Court  of  Great  Britain. 

Resolved,  As  the  opinion  of  this  House,  that  by  comparing  these 
letters,  signed  Thomas  Hutchinson,  with  those,  signed  Andrew 
Oliver,  Charles  Paxton,  and  Nathan  Rogers,  and,  considering  what 
has  since,  in  fact  taken  place,  conformable  thereto,  that  it  is  mani- 
fest, there  has  been,  for  many  years  past,  measures  contemplated, 
and  a  plan  formed,  by  a  set  of  men,  born  and  educated  among  us, 
to  raise  their  own  fortunes,  and  advance  themselves  to  posts  of 
honor  and  profit,  not  only  to  the  destruction  of  the  charter  and  con- 
stitution of  this  province,  but  at  the  expense  of  the  rights  and  liber- 
ties of  the  American  colonies.  And,  it  is  further  the  opinion  of  this 
House,  that  the  said  persons  have  been  some  of  the  chief  instruments 
in  the  introduction  of  a  military  force  into  the  province,  to  carry 
their  plans  into  execution ;  and,  therefore,  they  have  been,  not  only 
greatly  instrumental  of  disturbing  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the 
government,  and  causing,  and  promoting  great  discord  and  animosi- 
ties, but  are  justly  chargeable  with  the  great  corruption  of  morals, 
and  all  that  confusion,  misery  and  bloodshed,  which  have  been  the 
natural  effects  of  the  introduction  of  troops. 


APPENDIX.  441 

Whereas,  for  many  years  past,  measures  have  been  taken  by  tlie 
British  administration,  very  grievous  to  the  good  people  of  this 
province,  which  this  House  have  now  reason  to  suppose,  were  pro- 
moted, if  not  originally  suggested,  by  the  writers  of  these  letters ; 
and  many  efforts  have  been  made,  by  the  people,  to  obtain  the 
redress  of  their  grievances  : 

Resolve'd,  That  it  appears  to  this  House,  that  the  writers  of  these 
letters,  have  availed  themselves  of  disorders,  that  naturally  arise  in 
a  free  government,  under  such  oppressions,  as  arguments  to  prove, 
that  it  was,  originally,  necessary  such  measures  should  have  been 
taken,  and  that  they  should  now  be  continued  and  increased. 

Whereas,  in  the  letter,  signed  Charles  Paxton,  dated  Boston  Har- 
bor, June  20,  1768,  it  is  expressly  declared,  that,  "  unless  we  have 
immediately  two  or  three  regiments,  it  is  the  opinion  of  all  the 
friends  of  government,  that  Boston  will  be  in  open  rebellion :  " 

Resolved,  That  this  is  a  most  wicked  and  injurious  representation, 
designed  to  inflame  the  minds  of  his  Majesty's  Ministers  and  the 
nation,  and  to  excite  in  the  breast  of  our  Sovereign,  a  jealousy  of 
his  loyal  subjects  of  said  town,  without  the  least  grounds  therefor, 
as  enemies  of  his  Majesty's  person  and  government. 

Whereas  certain  letters,  signed  by  two  private  persons,  viz. : 
Thomas  Moffat,  and  George  Rome,  have  been  laid  before  the  House, 
which  letters  contain  many  matters,  highly  injurious  to  government 
and  to  the  national  peace  : 

Resolved,  That  it  has  been  the  misfortune  of  tliis  government, 
from  the  earliest  period  of  it,  from  time  to  time,  to  be  secretly  tra- 
duced, and.  maliciously  represented  to  the  British  Ministry,  by 
persons,  who  were  neither  friendly  to  this  colony,  nor  to  the  English 
constitution : 

Resolved,  That  the  House  have  just  reason  to  complain  of  it,  as  a 
very  great  grievance,  that  the  humble  petitions  and  remonstrances 
of  the  Commons  of  this  province,  are  not  allowed  to  reach  the  hand 
of  our  most  gracious  Sovereign,  merely  because  they  are  presented 
by  an  agent,  to  whose  appointment,  the  Governor,  with  whom  our 
chief  dispute  may  subsist,  doth  not  consent ;  while  the  partial  and 
inflammatory  letters  of  individuals,  who  are  greatly  interested  in  the 
revenue  acts,  and  the  measures  taken  to  carry  them  into  execution, 
have  been  laid  before  administration,  attended  to,  and  determined 
upon,  not  only  to  the  injury  of  the  reputation  of  the  people,  but  to 
the  depriving  them  of  their  invaluable  rights  and  liberties. 


442  APPENDIX. 

Whereas,  this  House  are  humbly  of  opinion,  that  his  Majesty  will 
judge  it  to  be  incompatible  with  the  interest  of  his  Crown,  and  the 
peace  and  safety  of  the  good  people  of  this,  his  loyal  province,  that 
persons  should  be  continued  in  places  of  high  trust  and  authority  in 
it,  who  are  known  to  have,  with  great  industry,  though  secretly, 
endeavored  to  undermine,  alter,  and  overthrow  the  constitution  of 
the  province :  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  this  House  is  bound,  in  duty  to  the  King  and  their 
constituents,  humbly  to  remonstrate  to  his  Majesty,  the  conduct  of 
his  Excellency  Thomas  Hutchinson,  Esquire,  Governor,  and  the 
Honorable  Andrew  Oliver,  Esquire,  Lieutenant  Governor  of  this 
province ;  and  to  pray  that  his  Majesty  would  be  pleased  to  remove 
them  forever  from  the  government  thereof. 


APPENDIX   D. 

HUTCHINSON'S  CONFISCATED  MASSACHUSETTS  ESTATE. 
From  the  Records  in  the  Suffolk   Registry  op  Deeds.^ 

Land  and  dwelling-house  in  Boston,  Fish  St.  W. ;  land  purchased 
by  Thomas  Stephenson  N. ;  passageway  E. ;  heirs  of  William 
Graves  S. 

Land,  43  A.  2  qr.  34  r.,  in  Milton,  a  bach  lane  E. ;  Mr.  Ivers  and 
Milton  River  N. ;  Stephen  Badcock  and  a  brook  N.  W.  ;  lane  to 

Stephen  Badcock  S.  W. ;  road  to  Milton  meeting-house  S.  E. 

Land,  33  A.  1  r.,  mansion  house  and  barn  in  Milton,  road  to 
Braintree  E.  ;  heirs  of  William  Badcock  S.  E.  and  S.  W. ;  road 

to  Milton  meeting-house  N.  W. 14  A.  3  qr.  3  r.  in  Milton, 

road  to  Braintree  S.  AV.  ;  Robert  Williams  S.  E.  ;  heirs  of  William 

Badcock  N.  ;  Milton  River  N.  E. Woodland,  48  A.  1  qr.  9  r., 

in  Milton,  road  by  Moses  Glover's  N.  W.  ;  Braintree  town  line 

S.  E. ;  John  Bois  S.  W. ;  John  Sprague  N.  E. Tillage  land, 

17  A.  2  qr.  27  r.,  and  salt  marsh,  16  A.  14  r.  adjoining,  in  Dor- 
chester, lower  road  from  Milton  bridge  to  Dorchester  meeting- 
house W.  ;  Hopestill  Leeds  N.  E. ;  John  Capen  and  others  E.  ; 
Amariah  Blake  and  the  river  N.  ;  Ebenezer  Swift,  Daniel  Vose 
and  a  creek  S. Salt  marsh,  2  A.  3  qr.  9  r.,  near  the  Hum- 

^  See  "  Confiscated  Estates  of  Boston  Loyalists."  a  valuable  paper  by  John 
T.  Hassam,  Esq.,  Proceedings  Mass.  Hist.  Society,  May,  1895. 


APPENDIX.  443 

muclcs  in  Dorchester,   Levi  Rounsavel  N. ;  Robert  Swan  ami 

Madam  Belcher  S. ;  the  river  W. Salt  marsh,  7  A.,  in  DoR- 

ciiESTEH,   Billings  Creek  S.  and  AV.  ;  Robert  Spnrr  N. ;  Henry 

Leadbetter  S.  E.  and  E. One   undivided  third  of  8  A.  salt 

marsh  in  Dorchester,  held  in  common  with   Timothy  Tucker 

and  Joseph  Tucker,  Billings  Creek  S.  ;  Nathan  Ford  W. 

Woodland,  33^  A.  9  r.,  in  Braintree. 

Land  and  dwelling-house  in  Boston,  Fish  St.  W.  ;  land  purchased 
by  Parsons  and  Sargeant  N.  ;  passageways  E.  and  S. 

Land  and  dwelling-house  in  Boston,  Fish  St.  W.  ;  passageways  N. 

and  E. ;  land  purchased  by  Thomas  Stephenson  S. Land  and 

dwelling-house,  Fish  St.  W.  ;  land  purchased  by  John  Hancock 
N. ;  Thomas  Hutchinson  E. ;  land  purchased  by  John  Hotty  S. 

Land,  store,  block-maker's  shop,  and  other  work  places  near 

the  above,  passageways  S. ;  W.  and  E. ;  Thomas  Hutchinson  N. 

Flats,  dock,  wharf  and  stoi-es  near  the  above,  passage  W. ; 

dock  N.  ;  sea  E.  ;  dock  S. Flats,  dock  and  wharf  adjoining 

the  above-described  wharf,  John  Brick  S. ;  passageways  W.  and 
N.  ;  dock  N.  ;  the  sea  E. 

Land  and  dwelling-houses  in  Boston,  Fish  St.  W. ;  land  purchased 
by  said  Parsons  and  Sargeant  S.  ;  passage  N.  ;  passage  PI  ;  land 
purchased  by  said  Parsons  and  Sargeant  S. ;  passage  W,  ;  then 
ruiming  W.  and  S. 

Land  and  dwelling-house  in  Boston,  Fish  St.  W. ;  land  purchased 
by  Parsons  and  Sargeant  N. ;  passage  E.  ;  land  purchased  by  Joseph 
Veasey  S. 

Land  and  brick  dwelling-house  in  Boston,  Middle  St.  "W.  ;  Fleet 
St.  N. ;  street  from  Clark's  Square  to  Fleet  St.  E. ;  Lady  Frank- 
lin S. 


INDEX. 


AcADiANS.  deportation  of,  40. 

Adams,  Charles  Francis,  1st,  on  the 
controversy  of  1773,  252. 

Adams,  Charles  Francis,  2d,  on  the 
Braintree  village  school,  14. 

Adams,  John,  on  Hutchinson  as  a 
financier,  on  his  merit  in  general, 
Introduction,  xv,  etc. ;  describes  the 
case  of  the  Writs  of  Assistance,  -55, 
etc. ;  begins  his  public  career,  107  ; 
on  the  disease  of  James  Otis,  150, 
etc.  ;  counsel  for  Preston  and  the 
soldiers  after  the  Massacre,  1()5  ;  in 
the  legislature,  1770,  175  ;  his  promi- 
nence, 181 ;  his  mardiness  at  the  trial 
of  the  soldiers,  185 ;  describes  the 
controversy  over  Parliamentary  au- 
thority, 252  ;  claims  large  credit  for 
himself,  255  ;  his  mistaken  account 
of  Hutchinson's  treatment  in  Eng- 
land, o3;-). 

Adams,  Samuel,  on  Hutchinson  as  an 
aristocrat,  Introduction,  xix ;  his  fa- 
ther a  director  of  the  Land  Bank, 
32 ;  opposes  representation  of  the 
Colonies  in  Parliament,  SO ;  in- 
structs the  Boston  seat  in  1764,  82  ; 
begins  to  supersede  James  Otis,  83  ; 
in  the  legislature,  99  ;  opposes  Co- 
lonial representation  in  Parliament, 
100  ;  writes  for  the  Assembly  the 
letter  to  Deberdt,  129 ;  and  the 
"Circular  Letter,"  131;  becomes 
leader  of  the  opposition  to  Govern- 
ment. 15(5 ;  his  bearing  at  the  Bos- 
ton Massacre,  ll)3 ;  as  a  working 
member  of  the  Assembly,  1 74 ;  liis 
relations  with  Hancock,  170 ;  his 
bold  manifestoes,  177,  etc. ;  his 
prominence  in  1770,  181 ;  sets  on 
foot  a  Committee  of  Correspondence, 
184 ;  his  bad  conduct  before  the 
trial  of  the  soldiers,  180  ;  denounces 
Hutchinson,  192 ;  denounced  by 
Hutchinson,  193  ;  objects  to  Govern- 
or's   salary    coming   from   a    royal 


grant,  209  ;  almost  alone  in  the  strug- 
gle in  1771,  21 1 ;  his  relations  with 
Hancock,  213  ;  his  firmness  of  spirit 
when  apparently  overwhelmed,  214 ; 
revulsion  in  his  favor,  215 ;  charac- 
terized by  Hutchinson,  210 ;  de- 
nounces Hutchinson  for  obeying 
royal  instructions,  217  ;  dawn  of  the 
great  Committee  of  Correspondence, 
219 ;  on  ijarliamentary  authority, 
220  ;  his  struggle  against  Tory  writ- 
ers iu  the  Boston  Gazette,  223  ;  his 
quarrel  with  Hancock,  224 ;  barely 
successful  in  1771  in  opposing  the 
removal  of  the  legislature  to  Cam- 
bridge, 225 ;  his  final  triumph,  227  ; 
the  Committee  of  Correspondence 
made  potent  through  him,  23(j ;  jus- 
tifies the  Town-Meeting,  244,  etc  ; 
his  views  compared  with  those  of 
Hutchinson,  246,  etc.  ;  excessive  de- 
votion to  Town  -  Meeting  methods. 
247 ;  appreciates  the  inconsistency 
of  the  Whig  position  in  1773,  259  ; 
his  conduct  in  the  affair  of  the  Let- 
ters, 268,  270,  277  ;  "  Master  of  the 
Puppets,"  280 ;  characterized  by 
Hutchinson,  290,  etc. ;  chief  figure 
in  the  Tea-Party  tumult,  297,  304 ; 
mancEuvres  with  Bowdoin  to  lay 
aside  the  Governor,  311  ;  directions 
from  England  for  his  seizure,  315  ; 
Hutchinson  describes  him  to  George 
III.,  327. 

Albany.  Convention  at.  in  1764,  38. 

Ames,  Fisher,  compares  Democracy  to 
a  raft.  Introduction,  xvii. 

Anglo-Saxon  race,  the  schism  in  not  a 
calamity.  Introduction,  xviii. 

Appleton.  Rev.  Daniel,  on  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  people  through  paper 
money,  19. 

Assembly,  Second  House  in  Massa- 
chusetts Bay.  6 ;  Hutchinson  a 
member,  16  ;  its  course  in  the  paper- 
money  troubles,  21,  23  ;  won  over  for 


446 


INDEX. 


the  moment  by  Hutchinson,  29  ;  its 
folly  and  impotence,  81 ;  election  to, 
of  JSamuel  Adams,  99  :  issues  title  to 
Deberdt,  129  ;  and  "  Circular  Let- 
ter," 131  ;  enrag-ed  at  being  removed 
from  Boston,  17o  ;  Samuel  Adams 
working-  member  of,  174  ;  struggles 
with  Hutchinson  over  the  removal, 
180,  etc. ;  interrogates  the  Governor 
as  to  source  of  his  salary,  209 ;  in- 
fluence in,  of  Samuel  Adams,  grows 
weak,  214 ;  carries  its  point  as  to 
royal  instructions,  227 ;  struggle 
with  Hutchinson  as  to  parliamentary 
authority,  led  by  the  Adamses,  252, 
etc. ;  conduct  of,  in  the  affair  of  the 
Letters,  268,  etc. ;  defends  Commit- 
tee of  Correspondence,  o09  ;  tries  to 
lay  Governor  aside,  .'ill  ;  text  of  re- 
jjlies  of,  to  llutthinson,  in  1773,  380, 
etc.,  414,  etc. ;  Kesolves  as  to  the 
Letters,  Appendix  C. 
Auchmuty,  one  of  the  writers  of  the 
Letters  in  1773,  278. 

Bancroft,  George,  on  the  transmission 
of  the  Letters  in  1773,  273. 

Bank,  Land,  an  expedient  in  financial 
perplexities,  jirivate  and  public,  21, 
23. 

Barr^,  Colonel  Isaac,  opposes  the 
Stamp  Act,  81  ;  upholds  the  Colo- 
nists after  the  Tea- Party,  312  ;  his 
name  displaces  that  of  Hutchinson 
as  the  name  of  a  town,  324. 

Barrett,  Cai3tain  James,  instructions 
to,  as  Representative  of  Concord, 
239. 

Barnard,  Governor  Francis,  his  acces- 
sion, 44  ;  appoints  Hutchinson  Chief 
Justice,  47 ;  throws  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  Hutchinson's  going  to 
England  in  17^)3,  72 ;  opposes  taxa- 
tion of  the  Colonies,  77 ;  opposes 
Stamp  Act,  81 ;  but  will  distribute 
the  Stamps,  99 ;  rejoices  at  the  re- 
peal of  the  Stamp  Act,  114;  de- 
nounced by  Joseph  Warren,  132 ; 
embarrassments  of  his  position,  136  ; 
his  character  and  accomplishments, 
146 ;  his  letters  recommending  a 
change  in  the  constitution,  147  ;  goes 
to  England,  148 ;  his  experience 
makes  Hutchinson  anxious,  272. 

Bishops,  hostility  to,  in  New  England, 
130. 

Bollan,  William,  as  Massachusetts 
agent,  secures  Louisburg  indemnity, 
26 ;  superseded  in  1763,  70. 


Boston,  early  leadership  of,  in  the 
Province,  8  ;  the  Town-Meeting  of, 
the  best  type  for  study,  1(J  ;  intelli- 
gence of  its  peoi^le,  l.j  ;  its  Town- 
Meeting  led  by  Otis,  59 ;  Hutchin- 
son describes  its  government,  103 ; 
its  representatives  grow  in  influence, 
114;  calls  a  convention  of  towns, 
139 ;  its  mob  attacks  John  Mein, 
153  ;  conduct  of,  at  the  Massacre, 
105 ;  casts  off  the  King,  172 ; 
troubles  Hutchinson,  174,  194  ;  de- 
nounced by  Hutchinson,  294 ;  its 
spirited  stand  in  the  Tea-Party,  305, 
etc.  ;  its  mob,  307  ;  punished  by  the 
Port  Bill,  314 ;  Hutchinson's  last 
sight  of,  318  ;  his  love  for,  345. 

Boundaries,  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
Hutchinson's  agency  in  settling,  on 
the  side  of  New  Hampshire,  17 ;  of 
Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island,  37  ; 
of  New  York,  129,  230,  265. 

Bowdoin,  James,  with  Hutchinson  in 
the  currency  dispute  of  1762,  65 ; 
becomes  leader  of  the  Council,  118; 
his  prominence  in  1770,  174;  in  tlie 
controversy  of  1773  against  Hutchin- 
son, 256 ;  manceuvres  with  Samuel 
Adams  to  lay  aside  the  Governor, 
311. 

Bryce,  James,  on  the  educative  power 
of  popular  government,  11. 

Burke,  Edmund,  in  the  Debate  on  the 
repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  108 ;  on 
"  virtual  representation,"  109. 

Castle  William,  Hutchinson  seeks  ref- 
uge at,  during  the  Stamp  Act  riots, 
93 ;  given  up  to  the  regvdar  troops, 
182  ;  its  situation  and  associations, 
317,  etc. 

Caucus,  as  a  prototype  of  the  "Ma- 
chine," 247. 

Charter,  first  and  second,  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  5 ;  Hutchinson  de- 
sires no  dej)arture  from  it,  199. 

Chief  Justiceship,  Hutchinson's  ap- 
pointment to,  47  ;  his  desire  to  re- 
tain, 149. 

Church,  Benjamin,  at  the  formation 
of  the  Committee  of  Correspondence, 
23() ;  declares  for  a  Congress,  264. 

Circular  Letter,  written  for  the  Assem- 
bly by  Samuel  Adams,  131 ;  the 
demand  that  it  shall  be  rescinded, 
136  ;  as  a  step  toward  the  Commit 
tee  of  Correspondence,  184. 

Committee  of  Correspondence  of  1770, 
184 ;  the  germ  of  Samuel  Adams's 


INDEX. 


447 


idea,  210;  Hutchinson  bliud  to  the 
significance  of,  2.]") ;  goes  into  op- 
eration, 'Jo(i;  immense  effect  of ,  2;]?, 
etc.  ;  Iliitchiuson  aroused  to  its  im- 
portance, 24:5. 

Concord,  instructions  of  the  Town- 
Meeting  of.  to  James  Barrett,  Repre- 
sentative, 2o!l. 

Council,  in  Massachusetts  Bay,  how 
constituted,  0  ;  more  wise  in  finance 
than  the  Assembly,  ol  ;  chamber  of, 
described  by  John  Adams,  ;">(');  fa- 
vors sound  finance  in  1702,  (j.j ; 
Hutchinson  excluded  from,  1 18  ;  re- 
fuses to  second  Hutchinson  in  the 
non-importation  tumults,  157 ;  at 
the  Boston  Massacre.  IGO,  etc.  ;  in 
the  controversy  of  177;!,  2')C> ;  method 
of  election  for,  changed  in  1774,  ol4  ; 
replies  to  Hutchinson,  Apjiendix  B. 

Gushing,  Thomas,  becomes  Speaker  of 
the  Assembly,  117. 

Dalrymple,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  in  com- 
mand of  the  troops  at  the  Boston 
Massacre,  his  prudent  conduct,  IGo  ; 
in  command  at  the  Castle,  182. 

Dartmouth,  Earl  of.  becomes  colonial 
secretary,  228 ;  his  high  character, 
2o4  ;  his  good  sense  in  1774,  312 ; 
introduces  Hutchinson  to  George 
III.,  325  ;  baronetcy  offered  to 
Hutchinson  through  his  influence, 
334 ;  Hutchinson's  friendship  for, 
336. 

Deane,  Charles,  on  Hutchinson  as  a 
historian.  Introduction,  xiv. 

Declaratory  Act.  passage  of,  113. 

Democracy.  Hutchinson  not  in  sym- 
pathy with.  Introduction,  six  ;  shows 
to  ill  advantage  in  finance.  30. 

Douglass,  on  the  evils  of  paper  money, 
21. 

Eliot.  Dr.  Andrew,  restores  the  manu- 
script of  Hutchinson's  history  after 
the  Stamp  Act  riot,  99  ;  becomes  re- 
actionary. 210. 

Ellis,  Dr.  George  E..  his  sketches  of 
Hutchinson.  Introduction,  xxv ;  on 
the  Hutchinson  Lettere,  270. 

Emerson.  R.  W.,  quotes  from  Fisher 
Ames  the  simile  of  the  raft  as  illus- 
trating democracy,  Introduction, 
xvii. 

Erving,  in  the  Council,  talks  plainly  to 
Hutchinson,  170. 

Finance,  Hutchinson's  services  in,  10, 


etc. ;  success  of  his  jjlans  in  1749.  ar- 
rival of  the  Louisburg  indenmity, 
30 ;  folly  of  the  people  here,  the 
upper  class  better-minded,  31  ;  dis- 
pute over,  in  1702,  03.  etc. 

Fitzwilliam,  young  Lord,  falls  in  love 
with  ••  Peggy  "  Hutchinson.  201. 

Flacker,  Thomas,  Secretary  of  State, 
203. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  his  early  ideas  as 
to  paper  money,  32  ;  his  scheme  for 
colonial  union  in  1754.  3S  ;  favors 
colonial  representation  in  Parlia- 
ment, 39  ;  acquiesces  in  the  Stamp 
Act,  81  ;  opposes  independence,  200  : 
in  the  affair  of  the  Letters,  27(J ;  his 
agency  in  sending  them  to  Boston, 
273  ;  seems  to  make  a  crafty  sugges- 
tion, 275. 

Gage,  Genera]  Thomas,  at  Braddock's 
defeat,  40 ;  supersedes  Hutchinson, 
314. 

Garrick,  disliked  by  Hutchinson,  341. 

Gaspee.  Hutchinson  on  the  burning  of 
the,  232. 

George  III.,  his  accession  the  signal 
for  tumult,  49 ;  Hutchinson  con- 
verses with,  325,  etc.,  334. 

Gibbon,  Hutchinson  dines  with,  337. 

Gordon,  author  of  the  History  of  the 
American  War,  on  the  Town-Meet- 
ing, 10 ;  on  Hutchinson  and  the 
Chief  Justiceship,  47,  note  ;  on  his 
unpopularity  in  1765,  90. 

Gordon  riots  of  1780,  in  London,  349. 

Governor,  office  of,  described,  (i ;  those 
holding  it  .show  sound  financial  ideas, 
31 ;  Shirley  becomes.  20  ;  Pownal 
becomes,  42  ;  Bernard  becomes,  -14  ; 
Hutchinson  becomes,  203. 

Gray.  Horace,  Jr.,  Esq..  on  the  reason- 
ableness of  Hntcliinson's  position  in 
the  case  of  the  Writs  of  Assistance, 
62,  note. 

Grenville.  and  the  Stamp  Act,  79,  etc. 

Gridley,  Jei-emiah,  in  the  case  of  the 
Writs  of  Assistance,  58,  etc. 

Hancock,  John,  elected  to  legislature, 
1 14 ;  his  relations  with  Samuel 
Adams,  170 ;  reactionary  in  1771, 
210;  his  character,  213;  becomes 
reconciled  to  Samuel  Adams,  227 ; 
in  the  affair  of  the  Letters.  278  ;  de- 
fended by  Hutchinson  to  George  III., 
327. 

Harvard  College,  rebellion  of  students 
in,  133;  celebrates  the  accession  of 


448 


INDEX. 


Hutchinson  to  the  Governorship, 
2o;3. 

Hawley,  Joseph,  elected  to  the  legisla- 
ture, 114 ;  denies  right  of  Parlia- 
ment to  legislate  for  the  Colonies, 
1 18 ;  his  unfriendliness  grieves 
Hutchinson,  119 ;  couples  with  in- 
demnity to  Hutchinson  pardon  to  all 
Stamp- Act  rioters,  123 ;  his  promi- 
nence in  the  Assembly,  174. 

Hemenway,  Mrs.  Mary,  her  interest  in 
having  justice  done  to  Hutchinson, 
Introduction,  xxviii. 

Henry,  Patrick,  and  the  Virginia  Re- 
solves, S3. 

Hillsboro,  the  Earl  of,  becomes  colonial 
secretary,  13.5 ;  Hutchinson's  inter- 
course with,  in  England,  330. 

History  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  Hutch- 
inson's, 85,  etc. 

Hutchinson,  Mistress  Anne,  ancestress 
of  the  Governor,  4. 

Hutchinson,  Elisha,  grandfather  of  the 
Governor,  4. 

Hutchinson,  Elisha,  son  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, 38  ;  leaves  college  115  ;  in  the 
non-importation  troubles,  157  ;  mar- 
ries Mary  Watson,  200 ;  a  consignee 
of  the  tea  in  1783,  297  ;  describes  his 
father's  de.ath,  347,  etc. 

Hutchinson,  Margaret  ("Peggy"), 
daughter  of  the  Governor,  38  ;  cap- 
tures a  nobleman,  201 ;  her  father 
intervenes,  202 ;  noticed  by  the 
Queen,  335  ;  her  death,  345. 

Hutchinson,  Peter  Orlando,  great- 
grandson  of  the  Governor,  echts  his 
ancestor's  Diary  and  Letters,  Intro- 
duction, xxii. 

Hutchinson,  Sarah  ("Sallie  "),  daugh- 
ter of  the  Govenior,  38 ;  marries 
Peter  Oliver,  Jr.,  115;  her  death, 
347._ 

Hutchinson,  Thomas,  father  of  the 
Governor,  4,  etc. 

Hutchinson,  Governor  Thomas,  his 
abilities  and  high  repute.  Introduc- 
tion, xiv  ;  testimony  of  John  Adams, 
XV  ;  his  aristocratic,  ideas,  xix  ;  oppo- 
sition to  independence,  xx  ;  his  manly 
character,  xxi ;  autobiographical  ma- 
terial, xxii ;  the  Letter  Books  in  the 
Massachusetts  Archives  and  their 
vicissitudes,  xxiii,  etc. ;  previous 
sketches  of,  xxiv  ;  as  revealed  in  the 
State  Papers,  portraits  of,  xxvii ;  his 
mother's  mention  of  his  infancy,  1 ; 
his  home  in  Garden  Court  Street, 
school  and  college  life,  2 ;    as  mer- 


chant apprentice,  his  accomplish- 
ments, taste  for  reading,  expedition 
to  Casco  Bay,  3  ;  marries  Margaret 
Sanford,  church-member,  selectman. 
Representative,  4  ;  first  business  m 
the  Assembly,  16  ;  first  visit  to  Eng- 
land, his  financial  ability,  17  ;  favors 
hard  money  in  1737,  22 ;  his  con- 
tempt for  opposite  views,  25 ;  be- 
comes unpopular,  20 ;  his  scheme 
for  applying  the  Louis  burg  indem- 
nity, 27,  etc. ;  successfull}'  carried 
out,  29 ;  he  becomes  popular,  30 ; 
his  eminence  in  America,  32,  etc. ; 
his  economic  views,  34,  etc. ;  in  the 
Council,  30 ;  settles  Connecticut  and 
Rhode  Island  boundaries.  Judge  of 
Probate  and  of  the  Common  Pleas, 
loses  his  wife,  37 ;  his  children,  at 
the  Albany  Congress  of  1754,  asso- 
ciation with  Franklin,  38  ;  coolness 
toward  the  scheme  of  colonial  repre- 
sentation in  Parliament,  39 ;  sug- 
gests Sir  William  Johnson  for  com- 
mander-in-chief in  1754,  humanity  to 
the  Acadian  exiles,  41  ;  his  opinion 
of  Shirley,  of  Pownal,  42 ;  his  idea 
as  to  Parliamentary  authority,  43 ; 
becomes  Lieutenant-Governor,  finds 
Bernard  congenial,  44  ;  no  sympathy 
with  idea  of  independence,  45 ; 
the  Chief  Justiceship,  40  ;  aj)pointed 
Chief  Justice,  47  ;  Judge  Trowbridge 
calls  the  appointment  unhappy,  48, 
note  ;  as  Ijieutenant-Governor  sends 
three  hundred  men  to  Quebec  in 
1759,  49  ;  in  the  case  of  the  Writs 
of  Assistance,  52  ;  brings  to  light 
their  illegality  in  Shirley's  time,  515 ; 
states  the  legal  principles  involved, 
54  ;  he  and  the  justices  in  state  at 
the  trial,  50 ;  his  doubt  as  to  the 
right  course,  GO ;  his  popularity  be- 
gins to  wane,  61  ;  judgment  on,  of 
Jaiues  Otis,  02  ;  in  the  currency  dis- 
pute of  1702,  64,  etc. ;  charged  with 
rapacious  office-seeking,  60  ;  ground- 
lessness of  the  charge,  67  ;  his  salary 
as  Chief  Justice  withheld,  7l>;  pro- 
posed appointment  of,  as  English 
agent  to  oppose  taxation,  72 ;  op- 
posed by  Thacher,  73 ;  on  Pailia- 
mentary  supremacy,  75  ;  opposed  to 
the  Stamp  Act,  81 ;  thinks  inde- 
pendence would  be  a  calamity,  84  ; 
publication  of  his  History  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  his  methods  of  literary 
work,  85,  etc. ;  limitations  of  the 
work,  86 ;    its  merits,  87  ;  his  kind- 


IXDEX. 


449 


ness  and  candor  illustrated,  88  ;  be- 
comes unpopular  in  IT'i"),  '.)(•;  de- 
struction of  his  liouse,  Ul,  etc.;  his 
appearance  in  court  next  day,  1)5  ; 
states  his  position,  UO ;  feels  safe 
only  at  the  Castle,  1)8  ;  laments  the 
state  of  the  Colonies,  101  ;  describes 
the  g-rowth  of  independence,  102 ; 
describes  the  condition  of  g'overn- 
nient,  10)],  etc.;  his  love  for  the 
Province,  U).") ;  tries  to  pureue  a  mid- 
dle coui'se,  1  lo  ;  his  family  and  home 
life,  ll-j;  his  Milton  place,  IKi;  re- 
jected for  the  Council  in  1T0(),  117  ; 
his  ideas  as  to  instructions,  119;  on 
liberty  and  independence,  121  ;  states 
claims  of  the  Colonies  in  1TG7,  122  ; 
receives  indenuiity  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  his  liouse,  12o ;  disapproves 
of  Townshend's  taxes,  124 ;  ap- 
pointed to  settle  the  New  York 
boundarj-,  120  ;  tries  to  have  Joseph 
Warren  indicted  for  slandering-  Ber- 
nard, lo3;  his  view  of  the  proper 
relations  between  mother  land  and 
dependency  the  one  adopted  in  Brit- 
ish empire  to-day,  loT ;  on  the  de- 
moralization produced  by  law-break- 
ing' in  17G8,  lo8  ;  tries  to  pursue  a 
middle  course,  142  ;  woidd  restrain 
the  Town-Meetings,  but  not  change 
the  constitution,  14o  ;  Hutchinson 
succeeds  Bernard,  149 ;  discourage- 
ments of  his  position,  152  ;  resists 
the  mob  in  the  non-importation 
tumults,  155  ;  his  house  and  family 
again  in  danger,  157  ;  his  indecision, 
158  ;  his  account  of  the  Boston  Mas- 
sacre, 159,  etc.;  meets  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  town,  101  ;  his 
good  conduct  in  the  tumult,  102  ; 
correctness  of  his  position  as  to  the 
removal  of  the  troops,  103 ;  solicit- 
ous as  to  having  his  letters  made 
known,  on  English  support  of  the 
Sons  of  Liberty,  IGO ;  his  idea  of 
the  proper  limitation  of  Town-Meet- 
ings, 107  ;  as  to  submission  to  Par- 
liamentary authority,  108  ;  as  to  a 
colonial  union,  169 ;  order  to  his 
tailor,  170 ;  as  to  royal  instructions, 
172 ;  greatly  troubled  by  the  town 
of  Boston,  174  ;  argues  his  right  to 
convene  the  legislature  in  Cam- 
bridge, 180  ;  denounces  the  rudeness 
of  the  Assembly's  papers,  181 ;  gives 
up  the  Castle  to  the  regulars,  182  ; 
his  position  a  forlorn  one,  180  ;  de- 
sires  the    repeal    of  the   tea-duty, 


187  ;  his  idea  of  the  proper  relation 
between  mother  land  and  Colony, 
looks  forward  to  promotion  with  re- 
luctance, 188 ;  dislike  of  the  Town- 
Meeting,  189;  thinks  sedition  in 
America  is  encouraged  from  Eng- 
land, 190,  etc.  ;  denounced  by  Sam- 
uel Adams,  192;  denounces  Samuel 
Adams,  dissatisfaction  •  with  the 
cour.se  of  the  ministry,  19;J ;  his  bad 
opinion  of  Boston,  194,  etc.  ;  puts 
backbone  into  the  judges  at  the  trial 
of  the  .soldiers,  19(i;  the  growth  of 
rebellious  spirit,  197  ;  anxious  not  to 
have  his  letters  made  known,  198  ; 
opposes  any  change  in  the  constitu- 
tion, 199 ;  his  domestic  life,  200 ; 
letter  to  his  daughter's  suitor,  202 ; 
accession  to  the  Governorship,  203  ; 
hopeful  tone  in  his  letters,  204,  etc.; 
bad  opinion  of  Boston  Town-Meet- 
ing, 2(JG ;  his  position  as  regards 
royal  instructions,  208 ;  interrogated 
by  the  House  as  to  whether  his 
salary  is  to  come  from  royal  grant, 
201' ;  encouraged  by  the  reactionary 
course  of  Otis  and  Hancock,  212; 
triumphs  over  Samuel  Adams,  214 ; 
characterizes  Samuel  Adams,  210  ; 
his  position  as  to  royal  instructions 
denounced  by  Samuel  Adams,  217; 
on  the  growth  of  sedition,  220 ; 
proper  limitation  for  the  Town- 
Meeting,  221  ;  rejoices  over  dissen- 
sions of  the  Whigs,  222  ;  hopeful  of 
a  good  issue,  223  ;  on  the  prosperity 
of  the  Province  in  1772, 224  ;  obliged 
to  yield  the  point  as  to  royal  in- 
structions, 227 ;  on  the  growth  of 
the  sjiirit  of  independence,  229  ;  ap- 
pointed to  settle  the  boundary  on 
the  side  of  New  York,  230 ;  again 
on  the  Town-Meeting,  231  ;  on  de- 
struction of  the  Gaspee,  232 ;  his 
spirit  of  tolerance,  233 ;  on  the  ap- 
pointment of  Lord  Dartmouth  as 
colonial  secretary,  234;  his  blind- 
ness as  to  the  Committee  of  Cor- 
respondence, 235  ;  on  the  absurdity 
of  two  supreme  powers  in  one  state, 
242 ;  gradually  awakened  to  the 
Committee  of  Correspondence,  243  ; 
his  views  as  to  the  Town-Meeting 
compared  with  those  of  Samuel 
Adams,  246,  etc. ;  resolves  to  head 
off  the  Committee  of  Correspondence, 
249 ;  describes  his  speech  to  the 
legislature  on  Parliamentary  author- 
ity, 250 ;  despondency  over  criticisms 


450 


INDEX. 


on  his  course,  251  ;  approved  by 
Thurlow  and  Mansfield,  252 ;  the 
two  Houses  reply  to  him,  253  ;  the 
logical  fencing  between  the  Gov- 
ernor and  the  Houses,  257  ;  points  in 
which  Hutchinson  was  right,  258, 
etc. ;  solution  he  wished  was  the 
present  relation  between  mother 
land  and  dependency,  260,  etc. ; 
limitations  of  his  position,  2(:!o  ;  set- 
tles the  boundary  on  the  side  of  New 
York,  2G5 ;  describes  to  Bernard 
the  affaii-  of  the  Letters,  268,  etc. ; 
various  judgments  on  the  affair,  270 ; 
tenor  of  his  English  correspondence, 
271 ;  why  he  dreaded  to  have  his 
Letters  made  known,  272  ;  how  the 
Whigs  obtained  the  Letters.  27o ; 
how  he  met  the  trouble,  277  ;  mild- 
ness of  the  Letters,  280 ;  unfair 
construction  put  upon  them,  281 ; 
his  opposition  to  schemes  of  taxa- 
tion declared,  282 ;  he  denounces 
the  interpretation  put  upon  them, 
283 ;  is  confident  justice  will  be 
done  him,  i;85  ;  a  tailor's  order,  287  ; 
on  the  grounds  for  charging  him 
with  putting  his  friends  in  office, 
288 ;  on  Samuel  Adams,  290,  etc.  ; 
hopes  for  a  good  resvilt  in  the  affair 
of  the  Letters,  292;  writes  to  An- 
drew Oliver  before  the  Tea-Party, 
294,  etc. ;  on  the  unlawfulness  of 
the  assemblies  at  the  time,  299,  etc. ; 
wishes  Boston  might  be  separated 
from  the  Province  and  disfranchised, 
291  ;  describes  to  Dartmouth  the 
Tea-Party,  302,  etc. ;  excuses  him- 
self for  refusing  to  grant  a  pass  to 
the  tea-ships,  305  ;  his  limitations 
as  exhibited  in  this  crisis,  307  ;  his 
public  spirit,  308  ;  his  effort  to  keep 
the  English  empire  undivided,  309  ; 
Samuel  Adams  and  Bowdoin  try 
to  lay  the  Governor  aside,  311  ; 
prepares  to  go  to  England,  312  ; 
detained  by  the  death  of  Andrew 
Oliver,  313  ;  superseded  by  General 
Gage,  314  ;  farewell  to  Milton  Hill, 
315,  etc.;  at  Castle  William,  317, 
etc.  ;  his  departure  from  America, 
319 ;  the  penalties  inflicted  upon 
him,  324  ;  his  interview  with  George 
IIL,  325,  etc. ;  disapproves  the  Bos- 
ton Port  Bill  and  accompanying  acts, 
329 ;  defends  his  views  and  course, 
330,  etc. ;  the  ''  Vindication.''  331, 
etc. ;  treated  in  England  with  kind- 
ness apd  honor,  334  ;  at  court,  335 ; 


his  titled  friends,  336  ;  meets  Robert- 
son and  Gibbon,  337  ;  receives  the 
degree  of  D.  C.  L.  at  Oxford,  338  ; 
criticises  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, 339  ;  dislike  of  social  and 
ecclesiastical  frivolity,  341  ;  pathetic 
charr  ter  of  his  diary  in  England, 
342  ;  his  love  for  America,  343  ;  ca- 
lamities, private  and  public,  345 ; 
sinking  toward  the  end,  34(i ;  his 
death,  347,  etc. ;  gloom  of  the  cir- 
cumstances, 349  ;  inventory  of  prop- 
erty destroyed  in  his  house,  1705, 
Appendix  A  ;  his  Messages  to  the 
Council  and  Assembly  and  their  Re- 
plies, 1773,  Appendix  B  ;  his  Letters 
and  the  Resolves  thereupon  of  the 
legislature,  1773,  Appendix  C;  mem- 
orandum of  property  confiscated  in 
1774,  Appendix  D. 

Hutchinson,  Thomas,  son  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, 38 ;  leaves  college,  115 ;  in 
the  non-importation  troubles,  157; 
judge  of  Probate,  289  ;  consignee  of 
tea  in  1773,  297. 

Hutchinson,  William  {"  Billy  ")  son  of 
the  Governor,  38  ;  goes  to  England, 
115,  200  ;   his  death,  347. 

Instructions,  of  Samuel  Adams,  to  the 
Boston  seat,  1764,  82  ;  Hutchinson's 
ideas  on,  similar  to  those  of  Ed- 
mund Burke,  119 ;  from  the  King, 
cause  a  controversy,  172;  validity  of 
royal  instructions  denied  in  1770, 
173 ;  position  of  the  patriots  as  to 
royal  instructions,  217  ;  of  the  town 
of  Concord  to  Captain  James  Barrett, 
239. 

Knight,  Madame,  describes  colonial 
trading,  18. 

Lecky,  on  the  American  Loyalists,  In- 
troduction, xiii ;  on  the  Stamp  Act, 
78,  etc.  ;  on  the  debate  on  the  repeal 
of  the  Stamp  Act,  109,  etc. 

Leitch,  Peter,  Hutchinson's  tailor,  170. 

Lessing,  his  Eettungen,  Introduction, 
xiii. 

Letter  Books.  Hutchinson's,  preserved 
in  the  Massachusetts  Archives,  In- 
troduction, xxiii,  etc.  ;  their  contents 
and  fate  referred  to,  330. 

Letters,  Hutchinson's  anxiety  not  to 
have  their  contents  made  known, 
198,  etc.  ;  affair  of,  in  1773,  268, 
etc. ;  the  affair  of,  variously  charac- 
terized,   270 ;    how    obtained,    273 ; 


INDEX. 


451 


suggestion  from  Franklin  as  to  a 
crafty  nse  of,  275  ;  their  harniless- 
ness,  liSO ;  lluteliins()n"s  defence  of, 
2S;J,  etc.  ;   text  of,  Appendix  ('. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  the  "  plain  people  " 
to  be  trusted,  Introduction,  xvii. 

Louisbnrg,  capture  of,  2(j ;  returned 
to  the  French,  ii(i  ;  the  reimburse- 
ment for,  and  its  application,  '21,  etc. 

Lumberman's  hob-sled  as  the  type  for  a 
political  structure,  Introduction,  xix. 

Mackintosh,  leader  of  the  mob  in  the 
Stamp  Act  riots,  US ;  Ilntehinson 
describes,  103;  his  ruffianly  charac- 
ter, 247 ;  at  the  Boston  Tea-Party, 
298. 

Mansfield,  Lord,  in  the  debate  on  the 
repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  108,  etc. ; 
on  '' virtnal  representation,"  100; 
Hntchinson's  intercourse  with,  -V-H'} ; 
his  danger  in  the  Gordon  riots,  ■040. 

Massachusetts  Bay,  first  and  second 
charters  of,  5,  etc.  ;  judicial  institu- 
tions of,  0,  etc. ;  its  Town-Meeting, 
7,  etc. ;  character  of  its  population, 
10,  etc. ;  business  and  habits,  14, 
etc. ;  beginning  of  trouble  from  pa- 
per money,  18  ;  consequent  suffer- 
ing, 19  ;  sinking  in  moral  tone,  20 ; 
the  "Public  Bank,"  the  "Private 
Bank,"  21;  services  of  Hutchinson 
to,  in  finance,  22  ;  help  rendered 
to,  by  Pi:rliament,  24 ;  rescue  of, 
through  the  Louisbiirg  indemnity, 
2.T,  etc.  ;  prosperity  of,  after  the  fall 
of  Quebec,  44 ;  gayety  and  luxury 
in,  .51  ;  Hutchinson's  History  of,  85  ; 
its  limitations,  80 ;  its  merits,  87  ; 
W.  F.  Poole  on  the  History,  88; 
second  volume  completed  in  1707, 
122 ;  throws  aside  the  charter  for 
"natural  right,"  311;  its  charter 
changed,  314  ;  how  served  by  Hutch- 
inson, 310. 

Mauduit,  Jasper,  agent  of  Massachu- 
setts Bay  in  17i)3,  70. 

Mayhew,  Rev.  Jonathan,  defends  him- 
self against  charge  of  complicity  in 
the  Stamj)  Act  riots,  98. 

Mein,  John,  appeals  to  Hutchinson 
when  in  distress,  ir)4. 

Milton  Hill,  Hutchinson's  place  at,  IIG ; 
his  farewell  to,  315,  etc. 

Ministers,  Hutchinson  describes  those 
of  Massachusetts  Bay  to  George  III., 
328. 

Mob  of  the  Stamp  Act  days,  91,  etc. ; 
John  Mein's  experience    with,   153, 


etc. ;  in  the  non-ini]inrtati(m  days, 
157,  etc.  ;  at  Ihe  iJoston  Massacre, 
159,  etc. ;  at  the  Tea-Party,  307. 

Money.  .  See  "  Finance." 

Montagu,  Admiral,  talks  to  the  mob 
at  the  Tea-Party,  304. 

Montesquieu,  influence  of  his  ''  Esprit 
des  Lois  "  over  James  Otis,  07,  etc. 

Natural  Right,  Massachusetts  Whigs 

forsake  the  charter  to  stand  on  that 

in  1773,  31 1. 
Navigation    Laws,    their    enforcement 

makes  trouble,  50. 
New  York,  settlement  of  the  boundary 

on  the  side  of,  129,  230,  2()5,  etc. 
Non-importation  agreements,  go   into 

operation,  83  ;  become  effective,  127  ; 

denounced  by  Hutchinson,  160  ;  fall 

through  in  1770,  183. 
North,  Lord,  succeeds  Townshend  in 

the   government,   129:    his  cunning 

trap  as  to  the  tax  on  tea,  300. 

Oliver,  Andrew,  Secretary,  as  stamp 
distributor,  hung  in  effigy,  89  ;  be- 
comes Lieutenant-Governor,  203; 
his  share  in  the  Letters  in  1773, 278  ; 
advises  a  change  in  the  constitution, 
280  ;  his  death  and  character,  313. 

Oliver,  Peter,  Chief  Justice,  on  the 
vacillation  of  James  Otis,  02 ;  his 
firmness  at  the  trial  of  the  soldiers, 
19();  stands  up  against  the  Assem- 
bly, 3 10 ;  dares  not  go  to  his 
brother's  funeral,  314 ;  describes  the 
English  court,  335  ;  receives  the  de- 
gree of  D.  C.  L.  at  Oxford,  3-38; 
describes  the  House  of  Lords,  339, 
etc. 

Oliver,  Dr.  Peter,  Jr.,  marries  "  Sallie  " 
Hutchinson,  115. 

Otis,  James,  Jr.,  asks  an  appointment 
for  his  father  as  judge  of  the  Su- 
perior Court,  47 ;  opposes  govern- 
ment, 48 ;  his  great  powers.  49 ;  in 
the  ease  of  the  Writs  of  Assistance, 
55  ;  an  uncomfortable  associate,  .57 ; 
his  eloquence,  58  ;  his  mastery  of  the 
people,  59 ;  on  Hutchinson,  (52  ;  in 
the  currency  dispute  of  1702,  04 ; 
charges  Hutchinson  with  rapacious 
office-seeking,  00 ;  a  disciple  of 
Montesquieu,  07  ;  relations  with  the 
government,  69 ;  opposed  to  inde- 
pendence, 70,  etc. ;  delegate  to  the 
Stamp  Act  CongTess,  83  ;  on  sub- 
mission to  Parliament,  90 ;  his 
scheme    for  colonial   representation 


452 


INDEX. 


discredited,  100 ;  scorns  "  virtual 
representation,"  109  ;  negatived  as 
Speaker  in  1766,  117  ;  demands  a 
gallery  for  the  people  in  the  Assem- 
bly chamber,  118  ;  advocates  sub- 
mission to  the  government,  128 ;  as- 
saulted by  Robinson,  150;  John 
Adams's  account  of  his  disease,  151 ; 
reactionary  in  1771,  210  ;  his  power 
even  in  his  decay,  211 ;  his  defec- 
tion from  the  patriot  cause,  212 ; 
carried  into  confinement,  224. 
Oxford  University,  makes  Hutchinson 
Doctor  Civilis  Juris,  338. 

Paper  money,  troubles  from,  18,  etc. 

Parliament,  frustrates  the  Land  Bank 
scheme,  24  ;  passes  the  Stamp  Act, 
81 ;  debates  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp 
Act,  108,  etc. ;  punishes  Boston  for 
the  Tea-Party,  312,  etc. 

Parliamentary  supremacy,  universally 
admitted  in  1757,  4S ;  favored  by 
Hutchinson  and  James  Otis,  75 ; 
still  maintained  by  English  writers, 
76  ;  Hutchinson's  view,  188 ;  con- 
troversy over,  in  1773,  249,  etc.  ; 
legality  of  Hutchinson's  position, 
250 ;  disapproval  of  his  course  in 
maintaining,  251  ;  approval  of  his 
course,  252 ;  John  Adams's  part  in 
the  controversy  over,  252,  etc. ;  C 
F.  Adams  on  the  importance  of  the 
speeches,  252  ;  Webster  on  the  con- 
troversy, 253  ;  documents  in  the  con- 
troversy. Appendix  B. 

Paxton.  Commissioner  of  Customs,  125  ; 
his  letter  advising  the  sending  of 
troops,  280. 

Pepperell,  Sir  William,  the  Kittery  i 
merchant,  33.  I 

Pitt,  in  the  debate  on  the  repeal  of  the 
Stamp  Act,  108,  etc. 

Poole,  W.  F.,  sketches  Hutchinson, 
Introduction,  xxv ;  his  estimate  of 
the  History  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
88,  note. 

Pownal,  Thomas,  becomes  Governor, 
42 ;  on  colonial  representation  in 
Parliament,  12(3. 

Preston,  Captain,  trial  of.  for  respon- 
sibility in  the  Boston  Massacre,  185, 
196. 

Quebec,  the  fall  of,    a  crisis  for  the 

Colonies,  49. 
Quincy,  Josiah,   describes  Hutchinson 

after  the  Stamp  Act  riot,  94,  etc. ; 

advocates    armed    resistance,    127 ; 


counsel  for  Preston  and  the  soldiers 
after  the  Massacre,  165  ;  instructs 
the  Boston  seat  in  1770,  175. 

Regiments,  14th  and  29th  at  the  Bos- 
ton Massacre,  163  ;  their  conduct  and 
record,  164. 

Representation  in  Parliament,  favored 
by  Franklin,  39  ;  thought  impracti- 
cable by  Samuel  Adams,  80 ;  fa- 
vored by  Otis,  thought  impractica- 
ble by  Hutchinson,  168. 

Revolution,  American,  the  word-war 
of,  takes  place  in  the  Massachusetts 
legislatiire.  Introduction,  xxvii ;  a 
struggle  of  parties,  not  countries, 
71  ;  documents  of  the  controversy 
resulting  in.  Appendix  B. 

Robertson,  the  historian,  visits  Hutch- 
inson, 337. 

Robinson,  Customs-Commissioner,  as- 
saults James  Otis,  150. 

Rockingham  ministry,  comes  in,  107  ; 
faUs,  123. 

Ruggles,  Timothy,  delegate  to  the 
Stamp  Act  Congress,  1764,  83 ;  his 
character  and  wit,  106,  note. 

Sanford,  Margaret  wife  of  Governor 
Hutchinson,  4  ;  her  death,  37 ;  her 
husband's  love  for,  346. 

Shirley,  want  of  significance  of,  33 ; 
sanctions  Writs  of  Assistance,  52 ; 
approves  Stamp  Act,  107;  knows 
not  the  Adamses,  182. 

Slave  Trade,  in  New  England,  14. 

Smuggling,  in  Massachusetts  Bay,  51, 
etc. 

Stamp  Act,  cause  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
schism,  Lecky  on,  78,  etc. ;  opposed 
by  Bernard  and  Hutchinson,  81 ; 
riots  caused  by,  89,  etc. ;  goes  into 
operation,  106  ;  debate  on  the  repeal 
of,  108,  etc. 

Stamp  Act  Congress,  in  1764,  its  con- 
clusions, 106. 

Sugar  Act  of  1733,  its  enforcement 
makes  trouble,  50. 

Superior  Court,  its  constitution,  6  ;  sits 
in  state,  56  ;  Hutchinson  appears  in, 
after  the  Stamp  Act  riot,  94 ;  stiff- 
ened by  Hutchinson  at  the  trial  of 
the  soldiers,  196 ;  dispute  as  to  the 
salaries  of  its  judges,  264. 

Tea,  taxed  by  Townsend,  124;  tax 
on,  retained  for  the  principle,  145 ; 
tax  on.  disapproved  by  Hutchinson, 
187,  197 ;    tea  of  East  India  Com- 


INDEX. 


453 


pany  to  be  sent  to  America,  2fl6 ; 

eoiisigjiees  of,  2117  ;    destruction  of, 

and  consequeRces,  802,  etc. 
Temple,  Sir  Jolin,  in  the  affair  of  the 

Letters  in  ITTo,  2To. 
Tliacher,  Oxeubridge,  witli  Otis  in  the 

case  of  the  Writs  of  Assistance,  57  ; 

opposes  Hutchinson  as  English  agent. 

To  ;  his    retirement  makes  room  in 

the    Assembly  for  Samuel   Adams, 

Tories,  number  driven  into  exile  at  the 
Revolution,  Introduction,  xiv  ;  name 
appears  in  17(i5,  100;  their  suffer- 
ings and  general  character,  320,  etc. ; 
harshness  shown  them  necessary, 
S-2Z,  etc. 

Town-Meeting,  obscurity  of  its  origin, 
7  ;  the  plain  basis  of,  in  Massachu- 
setts, 8  ;  its  assumption  of  power,  its 
constitution  in  the  Revolution,  9 ;  its 
educational  value,  its  shortcomings, 
10  ;  Hutchinson  would  limit  its  ac- 
tion to  strictly  local  matters,  143 ; 
his  dissatisfaction  with  it,  167,  189, 
206,  221,  231,  263;  justified  by 
Samuel  Adams,  244,  etc. ;  views 
upon,  of  Hutchinson  and  Samuel 
Adams  compared,  246,  etc.  ;  great 
credit  due  to  its  defenders,  262. 

Townshend.  Charles,  his  ministry,  123  ; 
his  taxes,  124;  his  death,  125;  his 
taxes  repealed,  except  on  tea,  187. 

Trowbridge,  Judge,  on  Hutchinson  as 
Chief  Justice,  48,    note;    complies 


with  the  Assembly's  demand  in  the 
salary  dispute,  310. 

Virginia,  Resolves  of  1764,  83. 
"  Virtual    representation,"    ideas    of 

Mansfield,  Burke,  Pitt,  Lecky,  etc., 

109,  etc. 

Warren,  Joseph,  denounces  Bernard, 
132  ;  orator  at  second  anniversary  of 
the  Boston  Massacre,  225 ;  his  part 
in  the  controversy  of  1773  described 
by  John  Adams,  254. 

Washburn,  Governor  Emory,  on  Hutch- 
inson as  a  judge.  Introduction,  xv, 
etc. 

Webster,  Daniel,  on  the  ability  of  the 
legislative  papers  in  the  controversy 
as  to  Parliamentary  supremacy,  253. 

Wedderburn,  denounces  Franklin  for 
his  course  as  to  the  Letters  in  1773, 
274. 

•Whately.  recipient  of  the  Letters  in 
1773,  269,  274. 

Whig,  name  appears  in  1765,  100. 

Whitmore,  W.  H.,  his  sketch  of  Hutch- 
inson, Introduction,  xxv. 

Wilkes,  John,  seen  by  Hutchinson  at 
the  Guild  Hall  in  London,  342. 

Williams,  Col.  Israel,  his  correspond- 
ence with  Hutchinson,  Introduction, 
xxv. 

Winthrop,  Robert  C,  on  the  transmis- 
sion of  the  Letters  in  1773,  273,  etc. 

Writs  of  Assistance,  case  of,  52,  etc. 


OCT     2   1970 


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